Dead Calm
by Claire O'Mack
Summary: We are all told as children that things that go bump in the night don't exist. well perhaps its time to start believing in them.As a birthday party aboard a boat take a sinister turn when the things that don't really hide under the bed come out to play.
1. Chapter 1

So here is another new story. This one is a return to my roots of horror, and as usual has an unusual twist. This stars many WWE superstars and Diva's, so if you have a favourite they probably appear here.

Please enjoy.

Dead Calm

"Oh dad it's wonderful, thank you so much." Stephanie said to her father as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a fierce embrace as they stood in the shadow of the small ocean liner Vince had hired out for Steph's 30th birthday.

"Anything for you princess." Vice said retuning his daughters hug as she called her hands together and beamed her most charming smile at hi.

"Can we go and look on board?" She said her excitement at her present growing as she watched the majestic ship rolled in the waves that lapped at the dock.

"Of course, she is all yours until Monday morning." Vince said pretty pleased with his own imagination on this one. The Queen Anne was a hundred foot liner, complete with on deck swimming pool. Large banquet hall that also doubled as a ball room, and fifty cabins. It was a kind of fluke that he had managed to get such a ship. When Vince first had the idea, he was looking for some kind of yacht, something luxurious and beautiful. Upon arriving at the marina though he was greeted by a very excited looking sales man who said the ship was going into retirement but Vince could have it for the weekend. It had taken Vince precisely five seconds after he boarded the old ship to decide that she was perfect.

Now walking the halls with his daughter he took great pleasure in watching as her face lit up with joy at the elaborate décor and old style fittings.

"My god this is going to be one hell of a party." Steph finally said as she pushed open the double doors to the ball room, the large wood floor spread before them. Tables lined the sides and the carpet a deep rich burgundy matched the drapes that hung from ties and fell across the stage at the head of the dance floor. Steph was lost for words as she ran her hand across the wood panelling of the wall. The wall ended to floor to ceiling windows which looked out over the ocean, as it reflected the sunlight in to her now twinkling eyes.

"One more things as well honey." Vince said capturing his daughters attention away from the ocean for a moment as she turned to him once more.

"There's more, this couldn't possibly get any better." Step said as she clocked the grand chandelier hanging from a gold linked chain from the ceiling. There were more lights on it than Stephanie could ever hope to count as she looked back at her father and graced him with a smile.

"I have got you a small staff, just some waiters and a crew to sail the ship, I want you to have a wonderful time, that and I know what a bunch of professional wrestlers are like, we are going to need people to clean up the mess." Vince said with a small chuckle as Stephanie wrapped her arms around her father once more. She couldn't wait until tomorrow now, when her guests would arrive and be able to join her in her father's generosity.

The bus was due to arrived at the hotel to pick up the party guests at nine am. They had not yet been told where they were going, but they had been instructed to bring swimsuits as well as evening wear.

Mickie and Beth were hauling small suitcases down the stairs. With so little to go on they had both packed half their wardrobe. Meeting Maryse and Melina in the lobby, they realised they had not been the only ones to over pack.

"Maryse it's two days not two weeks." Mickie said as the French Canadian struggled with her suitcase and hand luggage. The expression on her face told them all they needed to know as Mike Mizzan came up and helped Maryse with her suitcase.

"Jesus woman what have you got in here a dead body?" Miz asked as Maryse thanked him and scowled at him at the same time.

"Thanks, but you know I don't wake up like this, it takes work to look this sexy you know." She said as Beth and Mickie rolled their eyes as Melina held back a chuckle. Before Maryse could realised what had occurred they were interrupted by a very exuberant Jeff Hardy.

"Who's ready to party!" He shouted running up to them and grinning like an idiot as his brother just shook his head and joined the ever increasing group of wrestlers in the lobby.

"Jeff, calm down man, everyone already thinks your nuts, let's not confirm their suspicions a." Matt said grinning at his brother who deflated slightly as he clocked the smiles from the others around him.

"So where do you think we are headed?" Beth finally asked as they all pondered the question for a moment.

"The swim wear suggest some kind of beach party I think." Melina said as the lift doors opened once more and out popped John Cena followed by Mark and Glenn, who did not look happy about being up at this early hour.

"See I told you they would be here already." John said to the brothers at they both nodded in acceptance to sleepy still to argue the point as they approached everyone else and made their greetings.

"Are Stephanie and the rest meeting us wherever it is the hell we are going." Glenn said as she perched on his suitcase as they waited for the bus to show up.

"I think so, Steph said something about getting things set up." Beth replied as the sound of the coach approaching had them all on their feet.

"Oh wait Randy is not here, neither are Ted and Cody. Bet they slept in again." Mickie said picking up her carry on and glancing behind her at the closed elevator doors.

"Well they will just have to walk then wont they." Maryse said as she instructed Miz to be careful with her things as the long suffering man did as he was told, climbing on the coach and hauling Maryse heavy suitcase behind him.

"I'm sure we can wait a few minutes." Mark said casting a glare in Maryse's direction, she unlike himself and Legacy had not been in a gruelling match last night. Mark could certainly have done with another couple of hours sleep this morning.

"I will give them a ring." Mickie said getting out her phone as shouting could be heard from the street below.

"Hey wait for us!" It was the sound of Ted as he bounded on board the coach and grinned at the occupants.

"Sorry Randy is on his way, little accident with the tooth paste, I will say no more, and don't tell him I said anything either." Ted said as Cody climbed on the coach to.

"What did you tell them Ted?" The dark haired man said as Ted made a zipping motion over his lips which made Beth smile as he winked at her in the front seat.

"Nothing man let's sit down." Ted said taking a seat opposite Beth and Mickie as they waited for Randy. They all knew he was probably not in the best of moods now, especially after what Ted had told them. Mickie however couldn't wait to see him, bad mood or not he was still the person she wanted to see the most every day.

When Randy finally arrived everyone was so excited to get going that he forgot to be in a bad mood. The happy mood was catching and Randy couldn't help but smile at the brunette sitting in front of him as she and Beth played a game of travel scrabble.

"Douche is so a word, douche bag, I here you use it enough." Mickie said protesting as Beth challenged her word and the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Yes it is a word but it's not spelt like that." Beth giggled looking at the word Mickie had spelt doush and glanced at Randy as he let out a small chuckle.

"You can button it tooth paste boy." Mickie said clapping her hand over her hand over her mouth the moment it came out. Randy snapped his head towards Ted as the man's face went white.

"Ted Debasie, I am going to kill you." Randy shouted as Ted bolted out of his seat and rushed up the aisle.

"This isn't over James, I'll get you back." Ted yelled as he dived into the on board toilet just as Randy crashed into the door and wrenched on the handle.

Mark rolled his eyes in his seat and tried to get back to sleep, he could hear his brother chuckling in the seat next to him at the antics of the younger and somewhat excitable people on the bus.

"You know someone is going to end up in jail or something if this is what these guys are like now, never mind after they have had some drink inside them." Glenn said to Mark as the older man closed his eyes once more and a small smile played at the corner of his mouth.

"Wake me when the fun starts won't you." He said which made Glenn chuckle once more as Randy went back to his seat, thinking that Ted could spend the rest of this journey in the toilet for all he cared.

It took them over an hour to reach their destination, as they entered the marina though every nose was pressed up against the glass looking at the boats in the harbour. Every nose that was apart from Ted's who was still in the toilet as the coach pulled to a stop and Mickie could see Steph, Paul and Shawn lined up on the dock in front of a huge ship.#

"No way is that it." Mickie said to no one in particular as Melina banged on the bathroom door, as Randy replied to Mickie's statement.

"I think it is." He stated as they all started to get off the coach as Melina spoke to Ted from the other side of the door.

"Come on Ted unless you want to spend the weekend in the bathroom." Melina called as Ted opened the door a crack and peeped out at her.

"Is Randy gone, I don't want to die yet, I am too young." He said as Melina put her hands on her hips and scowled at hi.

"If you don't come out I am going to kill you, and it will not be pretty." She said as Ted opened the door fully now and stepped out into an abandoned coach. Getting an eyeful of their location for the first time.

"Holly Hannah, now that's what I call pushing the boat out. Pun intended." He said as they joined everyone else gathered on the dock.

After all the squealing from the girls and the excited clapping of backs from the guys died down Steph led them on board. She told them that everyone else had already arrived. The Smackdown stars had not had as far to come as their Raw counter parts and had arrived about half an hour ago. The first thing Steph suggested they do was to go to their cabins and dump their luggage. Then she could show everyone around in one go, the ship was due to depart in two hours so it should give them plenty of time for the tour and to unpack.

"We are headed for a slow tour of the Florida peninsular. We will drop anchor tonight in open water and have the main party then." Steph said as she led Mickie, Beth, Randy and John down the final corridor, having dropped everyone else off at the respective rooms along the way.

"Sounds great, Steph this is so awesome thank you so much for inviting us." Mickie said giving the taller woman a brief hug as Steph returned the diva's embrace pulling apart with smiles.

"Wouldn't be a party without all my friends now would it." She beamed back as she pointed to the four rooms along the hallway. Two one side two the other, each of them happy to have their own space. Although none of them thought they would be spending much time in there.

The rooms were fairly simple, a large single bed, a small bathroom with shower cubical. A bit of storage space and a view port out on to the ocean. Randy quickly stored his suitcase under the bed having emptied all of his belongings into the wardrobe and draws. Hearing noise coming from the corridor outside he guessed it was time for the rand tour. Pulling open the door he found John and Beth in the hallway discussing the view while they waited for Mickie.

"God I hope I don't get sea sick, that would be embarrassing." Beth said as John smiled at the colour that rose in her cheeks as the blonde leaned against the wall as Randy's door opened.

"These ships are like floating Islands, I'm sure you will be fine. If not I'm right across the hall way." John said as Beth looked up and met his eyes for a second. The moment broken by the arrival of Randy and Mickie the four of them headed off towards the main lobby for the grand tour.

Everyone was excited to see one another again, it wasn't often both brans got to spend time together. This weekend was special though and now Smackdown and Raw stars were all sat on deck, most in their swim wear lounging in the sun shine which beet down on the upper deck. As soon as the ship departed they all flocked up there to take in the view. The pool was the next thing to be used. Superstars flocking to get their trunks on as a volleyball game was organised.

Most of the Diva's had decided to sit and be cheerleaders while sunning themselves on the loungers which surrounded the pool. Stephanie had been coaxed into being team captain though, while her husband captained the opposite team.

"Steph's team lead eleven to ten." Beth called who had been roped into keeping score as she placed her sun glasses over her eyes once more shielding them from the beating sun and making sure she could keep an eye on the ball.

"That was your fault, I had it and you crashed into me." Pill said to Christian as the superstar rubbed his head where he had collided with his fellow Smackdown star.

"Didn't here you call it man, anyway it' only a game." Christian said as Phil glared at him as Randy got ready to serve. Steph's team finally won as the sun started to dip on the horizon. Mickie couldn't believe how quickly the day had gone. The old adage was correct, time did indeed fly when you were having fun, as she watched as everyone climbed out of the pool she couldn't help but rest her gaze on Randy's dripping form. It was only Beth's elbow poking her in the ribs that alerted her to the fact that she was staring at him that prevent her from getting caught.

"You have to do something about that you know. You're driving yourself crazy." Beth said referring to Mickie's obvious crush, and the effect that her undisclosed desires were having on her.

"I know I just can't seem to work up the nerve, to say anything to him, I mean what if he laughs at me?" Mickie said genuine concern on her face as Beth just smiled.

"Not a chance." She replied as Maryse and Melina jumped in the now vacant pool and Beth thought that was a mighty fine idea after the heat of the day she could do with a cool off.

The sun had gone down a while ago now, and they had all gathered in the on board cinema. Paul had gotten hold of Steph's favourite film and it was now showing on the large screen as the rest of them watched on in anxious anticipation for the next scare. Miz turned to Shawn who was crunching popcorn next to him and whispered.

"Stephanie a horror fan who knew." As Shawn smiled and nodded his head.

"I know but Friday the thirteenth man it's a classic." He said in his Texan accent which was slightly muffled by the popcorn and Miz could only agree with that statement, as he turned his attention back to the film when a hand clutch his and made him jump.

"Shit Maryse." He said as the blonde held his hand tight as it looked like another hapless girls in a swim suit was going to get it.

"Sorry, god I hate horror movies." She said and Miz looked around, they were almost in the back row. He had seen this movie a few time before and had no real desire to watch it again.

"How about we get out of here then, I'm sure no one will notice." He whispered in her ear and he could feel the nodding of her head against his cheek. Getting up quietly Miz led Maryse out of the cinema and towards the upper decks. The ship was still moving and he could feel the hum of the engine's below his feet as he walked alone the corridor. Getting to the main stairway they headed upwards. Intending on going to the observation deck Miz pushed open the door that lead to the upper most level on the ship . checking to see that Maryse was still following him Miz gave her a small smile and took her hand.

"Come on let's see what stars we can recognise." He said and she could only smile back at him. This was far better than some old horror film. She thought as they ascended the stairs and Miz opened the door at the top which led out on to the deck.

"So beautiful." Maryse said looking up at the jet black sky as the stars twinkled above them.

No one noticed the disappearance of Miz or Maryse, they were all far too excited about the banquet and party that had been set up while they had all been watching the film. Now filing out of the cinema they all made their way to their own cabins.

"Dinner will be served at eight guys and I expect, you to all be there on time. Accidents with tooth paste and all." Steph said winking at Randy as the Viper set off after a retreating Ted and much laughter coming from the rest of them. Beth, John and Mickie made their way to their cabin minus Randy still chuckling to themselves as they got to their rooms and separated with the intention of getting ready.

"You know when I catch that little weasel I am going to throw him in the ocean." Randy said barging though the door that separated their corridor from the rest as the rest of them paused half way into their rooms as Randy stormed in.

"Don't worry about it man I'm sure when we have a few drinks and a dance everything will seem much better." John said clapping his friend on the shoulder as Randy nodded his head and opened up his own door.

"Your right, that or I can ambush him whist he is pissed and shave off his eyebrows." Randy said with an evil smirk as Beth and Mickie just looked at one another in horror, making note never to annoy Randy and let him anywhere near their eyebrows.

Steph had been given the most beautiful ball gown for her present from her husband. It was floor length and royal blue. The matching high heels were from Shawn, and her mother had given her a sapphire chain which complemented the dress perfectly. Now as she stepped out of the bathroom Paul just stood there in awe of his wife.

"You look so beautiful." He said walking up to her and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Steph blushed as Paul ran his hand s up her back and on to her shoulders.

"You look good to, I think we should go make an appearance, seen as I am guest of honour." She said as Paul's lips were now sprinkling kisses down her neck, and she knew exactly where that would lead next. With a slight look of disappointment Paul nodded conceding that if they didn't go someone would only come looking for them, and that could be highly embarrassing. Leaving their cabin they walked the hallways. The ship now quite having dropped anchor. The sea was as flat and calm as it could possibly be and it was so quite outside that the only sound was the lapping of the waves on the ship's hull.

Approaching the main doors to the ball room, Steph looked at her husband as the noise from inside reached her ears. Soft music was playing and the sound of happy chatter was drifting though wood as Paul reached forward and pushed them open. For a second Steph couldn't move, now decorated and lit up with the chandelier twinkling its light down on the floor below. The up lighting on the walls and the beautiful crème and gold trimmed table clothes setting the room off in the perfect contrast to the carpet. As they entered Shawn whistled getting everyone's attention as Steph's face turned red at the gaze of nearly thirty people.

"Three cheers for the birthday girl." He shouted as the hip hip hoorays began and the entire room erupted in applause as the bell rang signalling that dinner was about to be served.

The captain of the Queen Anne sat and looked out of the main windows, he was the last on left on the bridge of his ship. Having sent most his crew off to help with the party he now listened to the muffled sounds of the music coming from below him. If he had not been paid handsomely for this weekend he would not have agreed to this little expedition. As he sat alone now he was already regretting the decision. There was a good reason the Queen Anne was going into retirement and that was because its captain knew she was haunted. Not only had there been a lot of unexplained deaths on the ship in the last year but things walked these halls, things that the eyes couldn't quite see and the mind couldn't quite imagine. He only hoped that they would stay quiet for this short journey, his whish however was not destined to be granted.

Well there it is the first chapter, I hoped you liked it. Obviously much more to come, how will everyone cope when strange things start happening, and people start dying. If you want to find out leave a review and I will continue to write this story. Thanks for reading XxX


	2. Chapter 2

Ok chapter 2 you asked and ye shall receive.

The banquet was in full swing. Mickie sat with Beth and Randy at a table in the centre of the room. It was almost like they had been transported back in time.

"As long as we don't have the same fate as the Titanic I can live with this." John said to Beth as the blonde chuckled slightly, pausing in spooning her banoffee pie around her plate and looking at John with a small smile. She had to admit he did look very handsome this evening. His tuxedo fit him so beautifully, and his smile could light up the entire room. Beth realised that she was doing the same thing as Mickie, pining over a guy when he was sitting opposite her, and doing nothing about it. Looking over at Mickie who had been pretty quiet during dinner Beth shook her head and vowed that she was going to do something about her sudden infatuation with John before she drove herself mad as well.

Stephanie was having problems keeping her drink steady as she laughed at Shawn who had spilt have his desert down his white shirt and he was trying desperately to mop up the mess.

"Think this is funny do you." He said an evil glint in his eye as Steph suddenly stopped laughing as a blob of crème winged its way towards her. Ducking just in time so the desert missed her hair Shawn loaded up his spoon once more and this time he didn't miss.

"Hey this is my new dress." The brunette yelled at him, but she wasn't just going to stand there and let him get away with it. Picking up her entire desert bowel Stephanie threw it at Shawn. The Texan superstar dived out of the way. All the activity caused Mark to turn around at the wrong moment. Catching the desert bowel straight in the face he pulled the crockery of his face as the cream dripped down his neck. Growling low in his throat at Shawn and Paul's mirth Mark wiped a napkin over his eyes to remove the worst of the mess and fixed his gaze on the two laughing men.

Steph was still in shock when Mark picked up Glenn's left overs and threw it at an unsuspecting Paul and Shawn. That did it, all of a sudden a food fight ensued, strawberries, crème and bits of meringue flew around the room. The diva's started screaming trying to hide themselves under the tables, not wanting to get their expensive dresses covered in desert. All that was bar Mickie and Beth who had cornered Ted and Cody and were currently mushing fruit down their shirts.

"Paybacks a bitch." Randy shouted to Ted as he pied him straight in the face. Ted was on his knees and covered in food, all he could do was start laughing like an idiot. The laughter fell to a sudden silence as a huge crash of glass reverberated around the large ball room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards the sound. All frozen in position at the unexpected sound, it was Miz who finally spoke up.

"Chandelier's had it, wonder how much that will set Vince back." The laughing began almost immediately at his words and the tension drained out of the room almost as quickly as it had come in the first place. Several members of the staff came out and began clearing up the mess the chandelier had made on the dance floor. The up lighting was providing enough light for everyone to still see by. In fact it had given the room a more romantic glow. Paul decided that it was time for some dancing. Asking one of the crew if they would put on the entertainment, all the wrestlers whooped and cheered as music blasted though the sound system.

The captain heard the crash and flew out of his seat. Stopping abruptly at the person in the door way he began to back up towards the forward windows.

"No, no this is not happening, you promised." He said stuttering out the sentence as the figure approached in a inhuman like gate. They almost seemed to glide across the floor. Even though he knew that was impossible, it was what his eyes perceived.

"You have provided me with enough souls this time captain, I intend to take them all." The voice said, it didn't sound right, hollow, totally lacking in emotion and the captain caught hold of the steering wheel, trying to put some distance between himself and this being that had been plaguing his ship for over a year now. He knew it would do him no good. Not seeing the thing move it was suddenly right there in front of him. Its ungodly almost black eyes staring at him, they felt like they were burning his inside's. crumpling to the floor the captain gasped for breath as his heart struggled to pump blood around his system. Clutching his chest and feeling the burning start from deep inside him he finally collapsed on the floor at the beings feet.

"Now for the rest." It said as it took strength form the new soul it had acquired.

Mickie was being swung around the dance floor by Ted as the wrestler seemed to be on a mission to make Mickie sick.

"Ted stop I'm going to vomit." She squealed as Ted spun her one more time and laughed as Mickie went from pink to green and he held her steady and looked down at her.

"Having fun yet James, told you I would get you back." Ted said as Mickie scowled at him, but was seriously considering a trip to the bathroom. In fact she wondered just why she was feeling so sick from just being swung around. The ground didn't feel right, in fact it felt like they were moving again. That wasn't possible though right, they were due to be anchored for the night. Looking over at Beth and seeing that she was nowhere to be found Mickie caught hold of Randy's arm as he passed her drinks in hand.

"Hey Randy have you seen Beth?" she said looking around and realising that John was missing to.

"No I guess you haven't seen John either, I have been looking for him, I've been carrying his drink around for ages now." Randy smiled down at Mickie. He had to admit she did look extremely beautiful tonight. Her dress was a deep purple and cut in a sweetheart neck line that showed off just enough cleavage to be tempting but not slutty. The brunette relaxed slightly as she walked off the dance floor and sat down at their previous table. Randy set the drinks down and perched on a chair next to her.

"I bet they are off together, I knew something was going on there." Mickie said with a small smile and Randy didn't need any clarification to know what she meant. Before they could discuss the matter further a pretty drunk Kelly ran up to them and pulled Mickie to her feet. Come on girl we have to sing happy birthday to Steph." Kelly almost yelled in Mickie's face, her drunken state causing her to wobble around slightly as Mickie stood up and made her way back on to the dance floor. She could feel Randy's amused gaze burning a hole in her back as she joined the crowd gathered on the dance floor.

"Ok everyone I would just like to thank you all for coming, this would not have been such a great party without our closest friends here." Paul stated as the music was cut so everyone could hear the man talking. Steph looked at her husband her cheeks slightly red at all the attention, as he gushed about how much he loved her. And that he wanted this to be her best birthday ever.

"And Steph my beautiful, wife I love you happy birthday." He said turning to her as the entire ship rocked sideways. The explosion made everyone hit the floor at the same time, ducking like bullets were flying around the room. Some of them were holding back screams as the ship continued to pitch and roll.

"What the hell!" Mark yelled as they all began to stand up, as the ship settled down and nothing else could be heard.

"It came from the galley." Shawn cried as he and Paul moved towards the entranced to the service corridor. Mark and Glenn joined them, followed by Randy.

"Ok we will go down and find out what the hell happened down there, everyone else stay here, make sure you stick together we need to know if anyone is missing." Paul said giving his wife a concerned look as he pushed open the door and slowly walked down the hallway.

Mickie already knew at least two people were missing. She hadn't seen Beth or John since the food fight and they hadn't returned after all the chaos either. Getting really worried now, and wishing that Randy hadn't gone with the search party she was grateful when Melina came over and placed her hand on Mickie's shoulder.

"I'm sure they are fine, that explosion, it was probably just a gas cylinder blowing or something, I mean we are hardly sinking." She laughed but Mickie could hear the worry in the woman's voice none the less. And she hoped against hope that they were not indeed sinking.

Paul led the way followed by Shawn who was holding a flashlight he had found, he didn't know why he had picked it up, he just thought it would be a good idea. Mark and Glen came next, neither of them liking the silence that had followed the explosion. Randy had taken up the rear, he was checking behind him just in case someone followed them down here, hopefully someone who knew what was going on. The fact that none of the crew had come out to explain what had happened, or to escape from any fire damage that may have occurred was a bad omen in Randy's book and he had feeling he knew exactly what they would find at the end of this corridor. When Paul finally put his hand on the door he pulled it back fairly sharply.

"Hot, dam hot." He said turning to Shawn as the lights flicker off, only for a moment though, as they flickered back on. Everyone held their breath as they took a second to finally turn back on fully.

"Do you think we should open it?" Glenn said as Mark shook his head.

"Not a good idea, if there is a fire behind that door we could make it worse, it could engulf this entire corridor, including us." He said and everyone agreed with him, until the door was cool, it was best to leave it well enough alone. It was fairly obvious now that some kind of explosion had occurred in the kitchen. The lack of staff suggested they had been inside when it occurred, probably killing them all in one go. Randy hung his head at the thought. It was ashamed a couple of them had been pretty young, probably doing this to earn money between college semesters.

"Come on we should go, see if all our people are ok, and inform the captain about what has happened." Paul said, placing his hand near the kitchen door once more, but he could still feel the heat emanating from it, even at the distance and he lowered his hand once more.

"We will go tell the captain, you guys do a head count." Mark said as they reached the door and Mark turned for the crew quarters access door as Paul and Shawn, along with Randy returned to the main room. Mark looked at his brother and gave him a silent nod as Mark pressed open the door and they started along the narrow hallway.

Beth had not been feeling so great after the food fight had ended, the room seemed to be spinning and her dinner was threatening a reappearance. Needing some fresh air Beth had made her way along the corridor and towards the stairway that lead out on deck. Halfway out the door Beth heard her name being called.

"Beth, hey Beth wait up." Turning she saw John running towards her and she couldn't help the small smile which appeared on her face.

"Hey John I am just going for some fresh air." She said to him as she waited at the doorway for him to get to where she was standing.

"Fancy some company?" He asked as he got there and smiled down at her. Beth's cheeks flushed slightly as her pulse quickened at his proximity. She remembered her promise to herself from earlier and she swallowed slightly and raised her eyes to his.

"I would like that very much thank you." She smiled at him. The happy look on John's face was enough to make Beth start to feel better already. Pushing open the door fully this time they both walked out on to the deck and headed up towards the stern. The breeze was almost non-existent but what there was of it was refreshingly cool. It blew Beth's impeccably curled hair away from her face as John was more captivated by her than the view of the ocean. Beth looked out in to the complete blackness. The ocean was a dark bottomless pool below her and the sky was a array of twinkling lights.

"You don't realise just how dark night is until you get away from the city." She said wrapping her arms around her as though she were cold, but john thought that was unlikely as the night was still pretty balmy. Walking up behind her he placed his hands on the railing. Mainly to keep himself from reaching over and touching her, John had yet to work up the courage to take such an action.

"God I thought once we stopped moving I wouldn't feel sea sick, but now I feel worse than earlier." Beth said puffing out her cheeks and blowing the air out straight upwards. Looking at the stars seemed to help her ground her slightly spinning head. That's when she noticed it, the starts were not stationary, in fact they seemed to be spiralling away from her. Beth looked downwards at the ocean, for a distinct lack of wind the waves that licked the side of the ship seemed pretty big.

Leaning forward more to get a better look Beth didn't realise how far she was over the railing until she felt a strong pair of hands grip her around the waste.

"Careful Beth, don't want to lose you just yet." John said as Beth stood upright again. Briefly checking to make sure her dress was still in place. The halter neck had slipped around slightly as Berth quickly adjusted it and looked back at John.

"What were you looking at anyway?" John said peering over the edge, but not quite as far as Beth had earlier.

"John I think we are moving, and I don't mean because we are sailing. I think the ship is drifting and that's why I feel so sick." Beth said actually having forgotten her queasiness now the realisation had sank in.

"What!" John gasped as Beth directed him upwards to look at the moving stars. John's eyes followed the movement just as the ship shook a low rumbling coming from the decks below. Stumbling into Beth, John grabbed hold of both her and the railings to prevent them from toppling over and into the dark ocean.

"What was that, do you think we hit something?" Beth said as the ship began to pitch downwards and Beth had to keep hold of John to remain upright.

"No I think something exploded downstairs." John said as the ship seemed to level off, but now it was even more apparent that they were in fact moving. The waves now bounced off the ships side, and the wind seemed to pick up as John pulled Beth away from the edge of the ship and back towards the main stairway.

"We have to go and find out what that was." John said pulling open the door and letting Beth enter the ship first. There was very little noise reaching this far up on deck, but they could here muffled shots from below. Obviously coming from the main ball room.

"We also need to tell them we are adrift. John we could hit anything, a rock, an island, it could sink the ship." Beth said stopping John half way down the stairs. Her eyes wide and her skin deathly pale. John wanted to hold on to her and whisper to her that everything would be ok. But he couldn't because the simple truth was he didn't know if that was even true.

When Randy got back to Mickie and the diva shook her head, indicating that neither Beth nor John had returned. Randy got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Looking over at Paul who was talking with Stephanie he caught his eye and they exchanged a look which said something is going on here. Stephanie looked concerned, she was flicking her eyes around the room, not settling on anyone person. She seemed to be biting her fingernails constantly and Randy was worried about her and everyone else.

"Randy!" Mickie shouted at him, she had been talking for the past few minutes, now she realised that he had not heard a word.

"Sorry I was just thinking, it seems like one thing after another has gone wrong since we started this party." He said looking down at Mickie as Ted and Cody walked over and joined them.

"Everyone is here, apart from the crew and Beth and John." Cody said as the doors burst open and the two people in question virtually fell through the doors. Mickie, followed by Randy, Cody and Ted started running towards the pair shouting and yelling about what had happened and asking where had they been. All eyes were now on the six people standing just inside the doorway as John held his hands up and shouted.

"Guys the boat is moving, we are adrift, we have to get the captain to start the engines." He shouted barely being able to hear himself over the din of the rest of the guests as they all seemed to be talking at once. John's words silenced them as an eerie quite fell among the wrestlers the odd feeling that Randy had started to have come back with a vengeance.

"It's ok Mark and Glenn have already gone to find the captain they should be back any moment, I'm sure he will be able to sort this all out." Shawn said, his voice not sounding as confident as he had intended them to. Perhaps because he wasn't sure he even believed them himself.

Mark and Glenn walked the silent corridors until them came across the captain's quarters. Knocking loudly on the door and getting no reply. The brothers looked at one another and then Glenn rammed his shoulder into the door, trying to force it open. Having not taken into account that the doors were all fire proof and water tight, he stopped and panted as Mark gave the door a bash as well. Finally it gave way as Glenn crashed through the doorway into the dark and empty room. It was what they had both expected but they had to check.

"Hey well at least there is no body, I was kind of expecting that." Mark said switching on the light and seeing that the room was undisturbed.

"Me too man, look if he is not here won't he be up on the bridge or something." Glenn said looking around getting a bad vibe from this place and really wanting out of the room.

"Yeah let's check there, if he is still a no show then we go back to the others. This place is giving me the creeps." Mark said as his brother raised his eyebrows at him, it wasn't because Mark was creped out, oh no Glenn could understand that, but it was because his brother had actually admitted it out loud. Glenn knew it must be bad for Mark so say he was scared. Turning from the captain's quarters now they both headed towards the main deck and upwards to check to see if the captain was still in his chair.

Kelly had gone to the bathroom, she had dragged Melina along with her too scared to go alone, but to desperate not to go at all. John's announcement had shocked them all, and sent them into a sense of real danger. The explosion in the kitchen was bad enough, but that had just seemed like a tragic accident, now the ship was a drift and Kelly was sobering up fast. Flushing the toilet and getting up she realised that she had not heard anything from Melina for a while. Usually the Latino diva could talk the hind legs of a donkey, but right now the bathroom was completely silent.

Well there is the update, hope you enjoyed it and it was suitably scary. Who is going to be first? Will anyone survive? The only way to find out is to drop me a review and encourage me to update. Thanks for reading XxX


	3. Chapter 3

Back once again, time to crank up the tension I think.

Please note this chapter may contain some scenes of violence. Well what did you expect bunnies leaping over a rainbow.

Mark and Glenn reached the wheel house, it took them five seconds to notice the body on the floor.

"Well I'm not shocked." Mark said bending down to check the captain over. The man had no obvious wounds, he seemed to have just crumpled to the floor. The expression on his face though was a different story. His face was a picture of agony, his mouth opened wide, eyes glazed and staring. His hand looked like it was reaching for something and Mark stood up. The chills that had been running down his spine since they entered the room increased.

"We need to get out of here and tell the others what has happened." Glenn said turning back towards the doorway. A shock of black made him leap backwards almost into Marks arms.

"Did you see that?" Glenn said to his brother as Mark just nodded his head slowly pushing Glenn forwards again.

"I think running would be a good idea right now." Mark said breaking into a dash as Glenn wasted no time in following him as an impossibly icy wind blew though the corridor. Something they both knew was impossible as there were no windows in this hallway. Yet they both felt the chill and both shivered violently.

"Move Glenn!" Mark yelled as they crashed though the door way trying to escape whatever or whoever was after them.

Kelly froze in the cubical, listening for any sounds coming from either Melina or from outside. She could hear nothing. Not even the chatter coming from the ball room which was just down the hall. Afraid beyond reason now Kelly didn't dare move from the cubical, thinking the flimsy door would hold against an assailant, that somehow they might not know she was in here Kelly baked right up against the cool porcelain of the toilet bowel. Breathing fast and shallow Kelly realised that she was panicking. Unable to stop herself she shivered, wrapping her arms around her frame trying to stop her teeth from chattering together. Realising that it was actually freezing in the bathroom as she saw her breath coming out in little puffs.

Her muscles suddenly unfreezing Kelly threw open the cubical door to an empty bathroom. It was darker in there than she remembered, but all she wanted now was out. Moving across the tiled floor and catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Kelly almost screamed as a dark figure stood behind her. Regaining her calm she turned to the figure recognising the face.

"God you scared me, why didn't you tell me you were in here?" Kelly said relief washing over her at the sight of a familiar face. There was however no reply as the figure glided towards her. Kelly's voice froze in her throat as she saw their eyes. Dark almost black and hollow as they stared right at her. The scream that wanted to come died on her lips and all that came out was a tiny squeak. The eyes looked at her and Kelly could feel heat starting to rise up on her body. Her heart felt like it was slowing down, having to force itself to beat its last beat as she crumpled to the floor. Trying to reach out with her hand to crawl towards the door, and to safety. Her last thought as her body felt like it was burning from the inside out was that there was in fact no safety to be found on this ship, they were all trapped.

Mickie sat with Randy her hands clasped in her lap and her eyes cast down towards the floor. There had been a distinct lack of activity since Beth and John came back, they were all waiting for Mark and Glenn to return. The longer they waited the more the feeling was that they were not going to come back at all. Randy had expressed his concern to her that something felt very wrong on this ship and now Mickie could feel it to. It wasn't anything physical exactly although Mickie could swear it had gotten colder, no it was more a feeling of foreboding, like something evil was amongst them and now she couldn't shake it.

"Do you think they are dead?" Mickie asked Randy as Beth and John came back from talking with Paul and Shawn about what they had seen outside, which really had amounted to nothing much, but that could soon change.

"I don't know but they have been gone a long time." Randy replied as John placed a hand on his friends shoulder and the four of them looked at one another waiting for an answer none of them had.

A crash made everyone look up at once, their eyes all trained on the doorway that led to the galley as Mark and Glenn crashed through it.

"The captain's dead." Mark panted as the others all got up and gathered around the obviously out of breath and scared pair.

"What!" Stephanie said the realisation sinking in that they had no one to sail the ship.

"That's not all." Glenn said reaching for a chair and sitting on it heavily, trying to calm down his thumping heart as Mark lent on the adjoining table.

"What do you mean?" Shawn piped up his face a picture of concern as his eyes shifted from face to face and he could only see worry in the sea of faces.

"There is something here, don't ask me what I can't tell you, but if you ask me whatever it is wants to keep us on this ship, and right now this is the last place we want to be right now." Glenn said knowing he sounded kind of crazy but they all need to know this.

"Something on the ship? Something killed all the crew and now what, wants us too?" Paul said moving around so that he was standing right in front of the returning men looking down at them with disbelief as the lights once again flickered off. A small scream came from one of the girls as they flickered once more then remained off. The ball room was now a black hole, the only light coming from the stars outside the huge windows lignin the port side of the ship. It was hard to see anything clearly and Paul went to Glenn crouching down next to him, he laid his hand on the man's knee.

"What did you see Glenn?" He asked as the emergency lighting kicked in. it cast a green glow around the room, but it was enough so that Paul could see Glenn's eyes and the obvious worry there.

"Nothing, a black flash, and a icy chill, like someone had the air-conditioning on far too high." He said, it wasn't much but Paul was inclined to believe him. Standing back upright Paul almost bumped into Randy as he backed away from Glenn and Randy had to steady him with a hand on his shoulder.

"We need to get off this ship." Paul said to Randy as the viper nodded, he wasn't going to put up a fight, this was far to creepy, and right now it was the only option, however unlikely it was that anyone currently left on board would know how to sail the ship.

"Hey where is Kelly and Melina?" Beth finally said noticing that the two women were not here. She had seen them walk off toward the bathroom ages ago and they still hadn't returned. All eyes turned to her as the rest of them looked around the group and they realised that she was right.

"God you don't think.." Maryse said not wanting to complete the sentence as she left the thought hang in the air. Beth moved forward though the gathered wrestlers and towards the door which led to the bathrooms.

"Where are you going?" Mickie asked her friend as the blonde reached out to push the door open, but paused upon hearing Mickie's shout.

"To the ladies I saw them come this way, maybe they are in there." She said not really thinking about what she was doing, until a hand came down on her shoulder. Turning around in surprise she was shocked to see Mikes face smiling at her.

"You know it's probably best you don't go alone, he said in a quiet voice so that the others would not overhear him. Maryse had been on the edge of panic since Mark and Glenn came back and he didn't want to add to the hysteria. Nor did he want Beth going off alone, he didn't want any of them to be alone right now.

"Ok come on let's go." Beth said grateful that he had stopped her, she knew now that what she had been about to do could have signed her own death warrant. Now the pair of them headed down the dark corridor and all they could here was the sound of running water.

John had been talking with Stephanie and had not noticed Beth's exit, almost in a blind panic now he ran to Mickie and Randy who were now talking with Ted and Cody, they had been discussing what they could do.

"You were in the marines Ted can't you sail the ship?" Mickie asked it was a perfectly reasonable question but Ted shook his head.

"No man I never sailed the ships, just worked on them, I could probably plot some kind of course, but that's it." He said as John broke into the conversation.

"Have you guys seen Beth?" He said looking at everyone as Mickie spoke up.

"Yeah she went to find Kelly and Melina, its ok Mike is with her." Mickie said not concerned Beth was only down the hall and Mickie was a good guy he wouldn't let anything happen to her. John obviously felt different. He ran towards the exit for the bathroom and threw open the door. Randy could only watch in shock as John disappeared into the darkness. Turning back to Ted Randy looked at him with solemn eyes.

"Maybe if we go and look at what is up there we could managed to at least get the engines stared, or drop the anchor so we don't crash." He said trying to think sensibly though the fog of fear which seemed to have descended on the room. Which was only being accentuated by the fact the lights had gone out.

"Ok I guess it is worth a try." Ted said as he and Randy went to walk off as Mickie placed a hand on Randy's shoulder.

"Maybe you should take some reinforcements, just in case you know." She said her eyes boring in to his and he could see her concern for her. Randy looked around the room. Mark and Glenn were still in no condition to come with them, the pair had been seriously scared by something, and Randy did not want to run into whatever it was they had seen. Cody was an obvious choice, but he needed someone he could trust to stay and keep an eye on Mickie. He knew the diva could be impetuous and would likely go running off to help someone. No he needed Cody to keep his eyes on her, so that he could go off knowing she was safe. Finally spotting Phil and Christian chatting with Maryse trying to keep her calm Randy moved towards them.

"Hey Randy." Christian greeted as the viper approached them. The serious look in his face told them he wasn't just coming over for a quiet chat.

"I could use your help guys. Me and Ted are going to go up to the bridge and see if we can get this barge started. We could use some back up." Randy said not needing to explain what he meant by back up, as both men agreed quickly.

"Maryse why don't you go an sit with Mickie and Cody, while they wait for Beth and the others to come back." Randy suggested in his kindest voice. The blonde nodded with a hint of a smile and git up and walked over to where Mickie was sat her eyes never leaving Randy's as he turned to look at her.

"Arm yourselves boys, who knows what we might see up there." Randy said picking up and bottle and smashing it on a nearby table, causing the entire room to jump.

"Sorry." He said as Ted made his way over to Shawn and asked if he could borrow the flashlight. Shawn handed it over without hesitation as Randy came over and explained what they were going to do.

"You guys be careful ok." Steph said clinging on to Paul as she watched Pill and Christian walk over. Phil had managed to find himself a fire axe, where he spotted that she didn't bother asking but it made her feel better. Christian had pulled down one of the ornamental swords that hung on the walls. It looked old and kind of rusty but it would do the job. Nodding at them all in appreciation Steph watched as they all left the ball room leaving behind a dwindling number of people, something that she had only just noticed.

Beth had pushed open the bathroom door as Mike moved in beside her. It didn't take them long to see Kelly lying in the middle of the floor. Racing over to the prone woman Beth bent down and went to place her fingers on the woman's neck, but as soon as she got close enough to see her face in the gloom Beth knew she was dead. The look of pain that distorted the usually beautiful woman's face told a thousand stories in one glance. Felling Mike's hand on her bare back shocked Beth at first, but then she was grateful for the show of support.

"No one deserves to die like that." Mike said as Beth stood up slowly glancing over the body but seeing no signs of foul play. Without saying a word Beth moved over towards the cubicles pushing open the first door and finding it empty. Mike got the hint and went to the other end of the stalls and pushed open the door in the far corner. Finding nothing he moved along the row until he met Beth in the centre. There was only one door left and both of them knew what they would find behind it. Neither of them moved to open it though, a look passing between them. They didn't want to see what was behind the door, but they needed to know one way or another. As Mikes hand reached for the wood the door behind them crashed open causing Beth to let out a small scream.

The hallways were dark, and the complete lack of noise was unsettling, as the four men made their way towards the bride of the ship. Getting a look at the ocean from a view port Randy couldn't believe how calm the sea was. There were no waves, the line between the ocean and the sky where it met on the horizon was a steady line that didn't waver. Clutching on to the broken bottle, the weapon seeming to pale in comparison to the axe and the sward Randy walked behind the beam of light Ted was currently holding on to.

"This way." Ted said as he pushed open a door way that lead to some stairs which led up to the bridge. It seemed darker in this stairway the emergency lighting casting little light in the narrow passageway as they moved up the stairs slowly until they came to the door at the top. None of them had noticed anything out of the ordinary. No sudden chill, no flashes of black, but all their hearts were pounding, muscles tense in case they need to move quickly. Randy looked back at Phil an Christian, both men's eyes were wide and looking around and Randy couldn't blame them one bit. He was having to fight the urge to run back to the ball room, and Mickie's comforting arms with all he had right now. The only thing that kept him moving forward was the thought that if they didn't do this, they would probably all die on this ship. Including Mickie, and Randy had not even had the chance to kiss her yet.

Ted pushed open the door to the bridge as they all walked into the surprisingly small room. Consoles and equipment lined the walls. A chair sat in the centre, obviously the captain's chair, and beside it lay the body of its former occupant.

"Shit no wonder Mark and Glenn got the creeps from this place, check that mans face out." Phil said bending down and taking a closer look at the mans expression before Randy spoke.

"Leave him Phil we have work to do." He said as Phil stood upright again and went to one of the consoles.

"This is all foreign to me man, I wouldn't even know what the on switch looked like." Phil said moving his axe so that it rested on the ground. The thing was heavy and his arm was starting to ache.

"Ted what about you, think you can figure any of this out?" Randy said to Ted who was checking out the equipment. The expression on his face gave Randy a feeling of hope as Ted's fingers moved across the controls.

"Yeah actually, this model is so old, it is like the ones we trained on back at the academy." He said grinning back at the three men behind him. Christian had not liked the feeling this place had given him since he walked up those dark stairs. He backed up now until the wall was behind him and he knew no one was going to surprise him from behind. Ted's words had been encouraging, but something was telling Christian this was not going to be that easy. Watching now as Ted finally found the controls which illuminated the consoles Christian felt like he should somehow feel better, but he didn't. the shared smiles of the others did nothing to comfort him as he took in a deep breath to calm himself.

"Great ok, so we have power, limited but I should be able to get the radio working at least, we could send out a distress call." Ted said to Randy as the viper bent over the controls, but they made no sense to him so he backed off once more, giving Ted some space as he worked. Christian's voice made Randy jump as he had forgotten that the man was still in the room.

"Hey do you guys smell gas?" He said as Randy turned to look at him with a scowl. The scowl fell off before he had even made a full rotation to look in Christian's direction however. Smelling the air Randy could indeed smell gas. Faint almost undetectable but there, like a slow leak coming from a room beyond this one.

"Shit, what is going on?" Randy said as Christian shot across the floor away from the wall and clutched onto Randy's arm.

"We need to get out of here right now. If whatever this thing is intention is to keep us on board, then any attempts to escape are going to be stopped." Christian said clarity finally descending upon him, as he realised he had found the answer to his own sense of unease.

It didn't take Randy long to realise that Christian was right as the smell of gas grew stronger. Turning to Ted, Randy walked over to him.

"Can you get a signal out now, we need to go, and I mean now or we are all going to be blown to bits." He said as if the force of his voice alone would make it happen.

"Yeah in think so I will need a few minutes to broadcast it."

"Not sure we have that long mate, want to just go for a simple SOS and book." Phil said now clutching on to the axe and swinging it over his shoulder.

"You guys go to the door, hold it open for me, I need at least two minutes, or noting is going to get sent." Ted said looking at them with a pointed gaze and Randy got the hint. This was their only chance, if Ted didn't get this message out then their lives wouldn't be worth saving. From the look on the captain's face, getting blown up might be a better option anyway.

"Come on move." Randy said shoving Christian towards the door as Phil had already reached it. Pulling it open and racing down the stairs almost tripping over his axe on the way, Phil waited at the bottom of the stairs, holding open the door for the rest of them.

Randy and Christian waited at the main door and watched as Ted's hands fly over the console. The smell of gas was getting so strong now that they could virtually here the hiss of it coming from the side exit of the room.

"Now Ted, there is not time." Randy shouted as Ted looked at him quickly.

"You go I will be along in a second." He said his fingers not pausing in their movement. Randy shook his head as Christian braced the door open as Randy moved back into the room.

"Not without you." Randy said as he placed a hand on Ted's shoulder and waited for him to finish.

Beth's scream died on her lips as John stood in the doorway his eyes wide and panting for breath.

"John you scared the hell out of us." Mike said more relieved than angry as John spotted Kelly on the floor as his hand went to his mouth. Walking over to Beth and Mike John moved his eyes from Kelly up to Beth's. He was so happy to see that she was fine, but he wanted to shout at her for just running off.

"Beth are you trying to get yourself killed." He said trying to tell Beth with his eyes how worried he had been, but it was Mike who replied.

"Hey man I was here, no need to get all worked up." Mike said but John almost brushed him off.

"Look at Kelly, I bet she thought she would be ok as well, and where is Melina. They were together and look what happened?" John said his worry now engulfing him as Beth laid her hand on his shoulder to try and calm him.

"We're fine John, but I have a feeling Melina isn't." Beth said not hesitating this time she reached back and pushed open the door. Melina's body was slumped on the toilet, her panties still around her knees as she obviously hadn't even had the chance to finish what she had been doing. Her head was tilted downwards and none of them wanted to see her expression, Beth let the door shut as she looked at the two men flanking her either side.

"We need to go back and tell the others." She stated simply making her way towards the door, as Mike and John followed her in silence, the seriousness of this situation hitting them now like a cold splash of water in the face.

Well there it is the next instalment. Poor Kelly (not) I had to do it I really do not like her. Will Ted get the message out in time or will they all meat the same fiery end as the others?

As ever leave me a review to inspire more creative juices and I will update tomorrow. Thanks for reading XxX


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for all the reviews they are much appreciated, they also inspire me to write even though I should really be sleeping.

The Queen Anne drifted across the ocean, pushed by the tides in the still of the nights wind. She sat there silent and appearing deserted, like a ghost ship with no one at the helm. The truth was far from that however. The people on board were currently in a fight to get the old ship working again, battling with whatever had stranded them here in the first place. Something none of them had seen and lived to tell the others about.

When Beth, Mike and John came back with the news everyone was sad to hear about Melina and Kelly, but they were not shocked. Everyone currently on the Queen Anne knew there was something very wrong here now. They also knew that their only chance of getting out of it rested on whether or not Ted could get the engines started. So far there had been only silence form the ship. Stephanie looked around and saw the obvious fear on all the faces that surrounded her, right now though they could do nothing but wait for an absolution that wouldn't come.

Phil was still waiting at the bottom of the stairway. He could hear the guys at the top arguing, but right now all he wanted was out of this dark abandoned corridor. Listening in the silence that followed the brief discussion upstairs Phil could hear someone calling his name.

"Phil please help me, please something is chasing me." The voice was soft, distant but he knew the voice and they sounded scared.

"Melina, hold on I'm coming." Phil said into the darkness. He couldn't see anything but he could hear her. She sounded like she was crying, there was no way Phil was going to leave her alone.

"Guys Melina is down here somewhere I am going to find her." He didn't wait for a reply, letting the door close Phil headed off deeper into the bowels of the ship and towards Melina's voice.

"Phil down here please help me." Her voice called to him again and Phil knew he was getting closer, the voice was stronger now and as he pushed open a service door he just had the feeling this was where she was.

"Melina talk to me, I can't see anything." Phil called the total absence of light in this part of the ship caused the wrestler to pause, torn between wanting to save Melina and keeping on to his own life.

"Phil he is in here with me I can feel him, help me Phil I don't want to die." Melina's voice was panicked and now Phil could feel the chill down his spine, just like Glenn had described as he finally pinpointed Melina's location. Stopping in front of the door Phil placed his hand on the handle and pulled it down softly. Poking his head around the corner Phil saw nothing but darkness in the room.

"In here Phil, yes I can see you, I'm so scared." Melina said her voice was coming from somewhere in the far right corner. Moving into the room Phil didn't realise the door had closed behind him. There was no light to block out anyway, the stars too far away now to cast any light for him to see by.

"Melina come on get up, we can leave now." Phil said trying to encourage the diva to come to him, but there was no sound of movement. Clutching the axe to his chest as he felt his body start to shake, Phil realised that it was not the weight of the axe that was causing the shaking. The room had become like a refrigerator, the temperature had dropped enough to make his teeth clap together. It was also the only sound in the room.

"Melina come on lets go, I think I think there is something else in here." Phil said stumbling over his words as his jaw chatted with the cold.

"Oh no Phil there is no one else in here but me and you." Phil couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was Melina's voice but the figure that stood in front of him was far too big. Phil could only see the dim outline of the shape. His hands froze on the axe as his muscles seemed to clam up all at once, the next thing he knew the being was right next to him. The black eyes boring right into his as the burning started. Clutching at his chest and allowing the axe to fall to the ground with a loud clang, Phil now got a better look at the thing that was killing him.

"You" was all he was able to gasp out as he fell to the floor, eyes wide and a look of shock frozen on his face.

Ted was almost done but he could even feel the waves of gas filling up the room now. The smell was making him choke and he knew it was now or never. Hitting the transmit button he dashed for the open door way.

"Run!" He yelled at randy and Christian as they all shot through the door and slammed it closed behind them. Noticing that Phil was gone Randy just rammed his shoulder into the door below and they all feel though it. Landing in a heap on the other side. Ted managed to kick the door closed with his foot as an explosion rocked the ship for the second time that night. Covering their faces and moving towards the far wall, the three men waited for the explosion to reach them. It never did the doors seemed to do their job as the noise died down, all that was left was a faint crackling from the residual fire.

"Shit now that's what I call cutting it close." Ted said smirking at Randy who retuned his smile for a moment. Then his thoughts turned to Phil.

"Where in god's name did Punk go?" Randy said as Christian pulled himself off the floor, grateful that he had not landed on the business end of his sword. The handle had made a big enough dent in his knee, let alone the blade.

"I think he said something about helping Melina." Christian replied remembering Phil's shout, even though the details were sketchy.

"Well maybe he took her back to the ball room, god knows I wouldn't want to spend a moment down here longer than necessary." Randy said as they gathered themselves and headed back for the main ball room and the others.

"Did you get the message out Ted, is help on the way." Christian asked as they pushed open the door and walked back into the main lobby.

"God I hope so." Ted replied before Randy pushed open the doors.

Mickie had almost been beside herself with worry. They had been gone a long time, and there had been no indication that they had managed to get the engines started. She just had this feeling that they were all dead. Beth had come over and sat with her leaving John to talk with Mark and Glenn. They were after all the only two people who had actually had managed to get away from this thing. Now sitting down with Beth and Maryse, Mickie was even more sure that Randy was not coming back, most of the others were talking about getting in the life boats and abandoning ship.

"We have to get off this ship, I can't stand it anymore." Maryse cried as Mike came over and wrapped the blonde up in his arms and stoked her back. Maryse was a strong woman but there was only so much horror any person could take. Mickie was approaching her limit as well, getting up suddenly she went straight for the doors. Not pausing to calls of her name, not even looking over her shoulder as Beth shouted her name and began to make her way through people towards her friend.

"Mickie stop." It was Cody who managed to head her off. He had been keeping his eyes on her, just like Randy had asked him to. He said she might do something like this and he had been right.

"I have to find him Cody, they could be in trouble." Mickie said feeling the tears well in her eyes as Cody wrapped his arm around her shoulder's and steered her back towards Beth who had managed to extract herself from the crowd.

"You know that is the last thing he would want you to do, go running off on your own, risking your life. He will be back I promise." Cody said as Beth grabbed on to Mickie and pulled her in close. Mouthing a thank you to Cody over Mickie's head the blonde kept tight hold of her friend as the doors burst open behind them. Every face turned to the three returning men, as they all looked tired and out of breath.

Three Beth thought having to think for a second about who was missing when her brain finally clicked on.

"Where is Phil?" She asked as they all approached them. Randy embraced Mickie briefly as she clung on to him like he would vanish if she let go.

"He isn't here. He said he was helping Melina, we assumed he had brought her back." Randy said looking at a bunch of shaking heads. Beth moved forward and placed her arm on Randy's as he looked down at her and he read the sadness in her eyes.

"Kelly and Melina are dead, we found then not long after you left, Phil could not have heard her." Beth said as Ted moved forward and took up position beside Randy and looked at his friend with a worried glance.

"We couldn't get the engines going, there was a gas leak, we think it was done deliberately, so we couldn't leave. I think I got a distress signal out, but the bridge its gone, blown up." Ted said knowing like the rest of them that Phil was probably dead, another sacrifice that had been made for their survival. Stephanie moved forward and stood almost in the centre of the circle that had been created by everyone.

"Ok that's it we take our chances in the life boats, it's got to be better than this." She said, it seemed like their only option now as heads began to nod.

"I wouldn't recommend it, I mean who knows how far we have drifted and in which direction. Life boats are lighter and not well supplied. Also the chances of a ship finding us, if I did get the message out are slim." Ted said knowing exactly what it was like being squashed into a life raft with no heat no water and little food. Paul moved forward and placed his hand on Ted's shoulder, they all knew the risks but right now getting off the ship was the one thing they all wanted.

"I think it's worth the chance, we can't stay here, I won't just wait to die." Paul said as Ted nodded his head and it was agreed. They were going to try for the lifeboats, whether or not they all made it was a different story.

"Hey aren't we going to see if we can find Phil?" Maryse said as they all began to filter out of the ball room. Beth turned her head to look at the blonde following her. Her answer written all over her face.

"I think he is already gone honey." Beth said as Maryse paused and Beth stopped with her. The emotions crossing the French Canadian's face a turmoil of emotions as she struggled with the thought of possibly leaving someone behind.

"if I was lost and alone on this ship, I would want my friends to come for me." Maryse said finally, locking her legs in place and refusing to move any further. John had realised that Beth was no longer following her and he stopped and looked back at her trying to persuade Maryse to move. John tapped Mike on the shoulder, hoping for reinforcements as the younger man nodded and joined John walking back towards the girls. Mickie stopped Randy a soon as she saw that Beth was missing, they had made it out on to the promenade and the door closed behind them.

"Randy Beth and John they are missing." Mickie said tugging on his arm as Cody came over and said that Mike and Maryse was not there either.

"How could we lose them in the space of thirty feet?" randy said wanting to hit something as Stephanie came up to them to find out what was going on.

"We have lost another four." Randy said simply as Stephanie turned to call the others back. They didn't want to leave anyone behind if they could help it and they couldn't possibly have gone far.

"Ok you four go and find them, we will get the life boat ready to go, and hurry up." Stephanie said to Randy, Mickie and the two youngest members of Legacy. All four were nodding as Shawn came over as well and asked what was going on.

"We are going to find the others, you guys get that life boat ready to go, as soon as we have them we are out of here." Randy said as he opened the door to go back inside the ship. Pausing and looking at Stephanie he spoke quietly yet assuredly.

"If we are not back in half an hour, go without us." Randy said knowing that after that amount of time, the chancres of them retuning would be very slim indeed. Stephanie opened her mouth to protest, but she knew he was right, closing it again she turned from Randy and headed towards the rest of the group gathered at the edge of the ship.

They found Maryse and the others fairly quickly they were still discussing if they were going to go and find Phil or not. Randy walked up to them making John jump as a hand landed on his shoulder.

"God man, not a good time to be creeping up on people." John said as Randy smirked slightly just glad that he had found everyone so quickly.

"So what's up, we were all waiting for you?" Randy asked to no one in particular but it was Beth that answered him.

"Maryse thinks we should go and look for Phil, I mean she has a point, we don't know if he is still alive." Beth replied knowing that ultimately Maryse was right. If it were her she would want them to come and look for her. The thought of being left alone on the ship filled Beth with a sense of dread.

"Jesus, not sure that's the smartest plan you have ever come up with ryse." Ted said thinking that everyone would dismiss it out of hand. It was almost a certainty that Phil was dead, and if not then he would be soon. Down their wondering the halls alone. He would be like a buffet meal already to eat and served up on a plate.

"What if it were you Ted, would you really want us to leave you?" Mike said standing up for the blonde which earned him a smile from Maryse as Ted folded his arms.

"Yeah I guess so, not sure I would want everyone to die for me though." Ted said and Randy had decided that he had heard enough talk, Beth beat him to the punch though.

"Look the longer Phil is missing the less chance there is of him being alive. I suggest we split up, work from the last place he was seen and if we don't find him in, how long before they leave." Beth paused looking at Randy who replied quickly.

"Half an hour." He said checking his watch seeing that it was almost midnight.

"We meet back here in half an hour, with or without Phil, I know he wouldn't want us to die for him either." Beth said as John came up and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"When did you get so wise." He asked her playfully, but right now Beth was not in the mood for flirty banter. She wanted off this boat, preferably with their missing friend.

"Some people insist on seeing wisdom where there is really just a lack of bullshit." She said with a smile as Mickie let out a small chuckle at that as Beth grinned at her friend before Randy broke the moment.

"Ok Ted, Cody you go with Maryse and Mike, us four will stay together. I guess we start at the stairway to the bridge. That is where we last saw him, although I'm not sure how much of it will be left." Randy said as all eight of them headed back towards the front of the ship and back into the darkness beyond.

Everyone on the life boat was sitting down tense waiting for the rest of their group to return. Their numbers had dwindled significantly. Mark and Glenn sat opposite each other now on the end of the row. Christian had taken his seat next to Mark while Natalya and Gail virtually clung to one another sat next to him.

Paul and Shawn's seats were empty they had gone on deck to hoist the life boat over the edge of the railings, so that it was dangling there. They could do the rest from inside the small craft, but they had wanted to get the boat as ready as possible in case they needed to make a quick getaway.

Stephanie sat on her own at the opposite end of the row, her head down cast and her eyes not leaving the floor. The noise of metal grinding came from outside and the lifeboat gave a shudder as it rose into position. Stephanie held on to the small hand railing at her side as the boat seemed to swing slightly before it levelled off and sat silent waiting in the night sky.

"All done, how long have they got left?" Paul said clambering back on board, closely followed by Shawn, who followed his friend to the bench. Sitting down next to Glenn Shawn watched as Paul enveloped Stephanie in a hug. The woman looked like she was in some kind of trance. Her eyes were kind of glazed over and she wasn't looking at anyone. Paul noticed as Stephanie didn't return his hug.

"Are you ok honey?" He asked as Steph shook her head and seemed to snap out of her reprieve.

"Yeah sorry, just so much loss I guess it all caught up with me." Stephanie replied now lifting her eyes to meet her husbands and she offered him a smile.

"I know what you mean, dry land that's all I can think of. Oh and I just asked how much time do they have left?" Paul said remembering his earlier question as Stephanie checked her watch.

"About fifteen minutes. God I hope they make it." She said as she raised her head and stared at the ceiling, hoping that it would provide the answers she wanted.

Ok so that's chapter 4 hope you enjoyed it, as ever let me know via a review and I will do my best to keep the updates coming. I wonder of you can guess who is next to die. Prizes for any correct answer. Well maybe not but it could be fun to have a go.

Thanks for reading XxX


	5. Chapter 5

I am back, lots of guesses as to who might be killed off next. Well how about we find out?

Mickie walked in front, the flash light they had found lighting the way as they moved towards the aft of the ship. So far they had seen nothing to suggest whatever it was that had killed their friends was here. Randy kept a close eye on Mickie as she stepped though into the next room. He then glanced down at his watch and saw that they only had ten minutes before the rest of them launched the life boat.

Having made it to the stairway that lead to the now derelict bridge they had split up quickly, moving off in opposite directions, each one of them doing so in silence. The urge was to call Phil's name, to listen for him calling for them in return, but something was making them all keep very quiet. Even walking along it was like they were creeping, any noise one of them made was frowned upon, as if noise alone would bring this abomination down on them. Turing a corner now Mickie spotted a door that had been left ajar. It was unusual in the fact that all the other doors had either been locked or closed. Looking behind her and pointing to the door, Mickie saw Randy nod at her implied suggestion. Moving carefully forward Mickie felt Randy's hand clutch on tightly to her shoulder, she wasn't sure if it was more for his benefit or hers. Not looking behind her, or stopping Mickie swung the beam of light from her flash light between the gap in the door. So far though she could see nothing but an empty room. Moving closer she could here everyone's breathing behind her, suddenly very loud in her ears and almost unnerving in its entirety.

"What can you see?" That came from Beth who was bringing up the rear as she kept hold of John's hand and peered over his shoulder, trying to get a better look inside the room. It was also the first thing anyone had said since they left the others in the hallway. The sound of Beth's voice was like ice water to Mickie as she shoved open the door and saw Phil's body lying lifeless in the centre of the room.

Holding back a small scream Mickie felt Randy's arms wrap around her body almost immediately pulling her away from that vision of terror that was now laid bare before them. Beth didn't need Mickie to answer her question to know what they had found. Moving forward she didn't know why she had to look, but she wanted to see Phil's face to know if he looked like Kelly and Melina.

"Beth don't." John said grabbing her arm as the blonde turned to him and offered him a small smile.

"I'll be fine, but I have to know if he died like the others, it could be important." She said now moving passed Randy who still had hold of Mickie but turned his eyes to Beth as she bushed passed him.

"Be careful, who's saying this thing is gone." Randy said and Beth heard the warning in his voice but moved into the room. Looking around briefly the room was nothing special, just an empty cabin that had most of its furniture removed. All that was left was the bedside table, and the wardrobe. Beth didn't know whether it was the light or her imagination but as she looked at the wardrobe she saw the door open. The crack appeared as a shiver ran down her spine and her breath caught in her throat.

Maryse was holding on to Mike for dear life, she didn't want to be scared, she had tried very hard not to be, to think about finding and saving Phil. It had worked for a short time, as the four of them moved along the halls and found nothing strange, or for that matter anything that would suggest Phil had come this way. Ted and Cody had made some small talk about getting lost in a ship this size, and that Phil might already be waiting for them at the life boat. Their theory was none to convincing though. As they moved around a corner a black flash seemed to fly passed at the end of the corridor. All of the group gasped in unison as they saw the flash, it was impossible to make out what it was and from this distance it didn't even really look human.

"What in the name of heaven was that?" Ted said as he pulled Cody off him so he could walk forwards once more.

"God knows, but I didn't like it, it looked too much like what Glenn was talking about." Mike replied as he felt Maryse shaking next to him. He glanced down at the blonde who was almost physically trying to shake off her fear as she shook her head and flexed her fingers. Mike knew this was the adrenaline pumping though her system, it was making them all antsy and right now standing still seemed like the worst possible option.

"Maybe we should go back the way we came?" Cody suggested as they turned to look behind them. The dark corridor didn't look any less inviting than the one in front of them. Also from the way they had almost swung in an arch around the decks to go back would take them further away from the lifeboat.

"How long until we are expected back?" Mike asked as Ted shone the flash light on his watch.

"Less than ten minutes, look I know we all wanted to find Phil, but we either went in the wrong direction, which means the others may have found him. Or well no one is ever going to find him." Ted said looking at Maryse who was nodding her head. She had just about as much of a scare as she could take for one day. Her heat was going a mile a minute and she felt like she was going to faint from the excess pounding.

"I know, and I just have this feeling now that he is dead, I know that sounds crazy but I just can't shake it." Maryse replied as Mike decided to take point this time and pulled Maryse along with him.

"I know what you mean, let's get out of here shall we." He said not wasting any time in worrying about what may or may not be at the end of the corridor. With The amount of strange things they had seen today a black flash in the distance was nothing, plus it had not returned suggesting that whatever it was had blown right passed them. It didn't stop Mike from pausing at the junction where the flash of something had once occupied, Mickie could almost feel the residual chill from its passing and he shivered unconsciously.

"Man this is creepy." Ted said making Mike jump and in turn caused Maryse to intake a sharp breath of air. Noticing that the air she had pulled into her lungs almost burnt with the coolness of it, Maryse realised that the shiver that they were currently all experiencing was not due to the creepy nature of the hallway. The temperature had actually dropped by a good ten degrees and Maryse turned her horrified face towards Mike.

"We need to go now." He said not making any move to explain why, knowing he didn't have to. Mike grabbed Maryse's hand and pulled her along behind him. Not looking back, not wanting to see if anything was following them, Mike crashed through yet another door way which led out on to a main deck. Not pausing for even a second, still feeling like they were being followed, Mike didn't pause in his running even though they were now out in the open.

Finally stopping Mike turned around and realised that he and Maryse were alone, that somewhere they had lost Ted and Cody. Looking at Maryse they both felt the same worry, neither of them wanted to go back, but how could they leave their friends down there alone.

On the lifeboat they were all beside themselves with worry. Each face looking to the other as the minutes ticked on in a never ending precession. The only noise coming from outside was the sound of the waves hitting the side of the ship. In the last few minutes the waves had intensified , the noise now sounding like a constant low rumble that was growing ever louder.

"God, I can't take this much more, shouldn't have been back by now?" Shawn said breaking the silence as Natalya almost fell off the bench in surprise as Stephanie stood up and started to pace the small interior of the boat.

"Sit down honey, come on it won't help you know." Paul said getting up and trying to stop Stephanie from pacing but she was having none of it.

"It's been half an hour Paul, but we can't just leave them." Stephanie said finally pushing past her husband and climbing up front so that she could see out on to the ocean. The calm flat dark pool that was once there no longer existed. The ocean was restless, it swirled below her like an angry giant waiting for something to come close enough for it to strike, capture and gobble up whole. Stepping away from the window Stephanie turned around to see Paul looking at her from slightly below.

"We will give them five more minutes." He smiled knowing that's what she wanted and Stephanie gave him a small nod back. Just as she was about to get down from the front of the boat the sound of the hydraulics came alive as the lifeboat began to lower.

"What is going on?" Glenn said standing up as the boat began to rock as it descended slowly heading toward the ocean.

"We going down!" Gail said almost a scream rather than actual words as Mark ran to the door to try and open it. Pulling on it furiously he realised that it had been locked somehow and now they were in motion he couldn't undo it.

"Shit its stuck." He said as Glen came over to help him but it was to no avail. They were trapped in the boat and the others the ones still on the ship were now stranded on the Queen Anne.

"Can we stop this from the controls in here?" Shawn asked pushing past Stephanie as Paul joined him up in the small cabin.

"No not unless we just want to hang in mid-air." Paul said pointing to the emergency stop. They could in fact stop the life boat from hitting the water but there was no way to reverse the hydraulics. One way or another they were going into the ocean and the slower and more controlled the better Shawn thought. As he watched out of the window the ocean get ever closer as the upper deck of the ship came into view. Shawn could almost see the swimming pool glint in the moon light as a cracking sound could be heard all around them.

"God what is that." Natalya said as the air began to crack with the sound of bending metal and snapping of wood. Glenn looked at Mark, they had both had this feeling before, like something was watching them. A presence of something very wrong as Mark turned to look at the others he noticed that he could see the puffs of breath coming out of their mouths.

"The ship is breaking apart. Whatever this is, is never going to let us off the ship." Mark said as the life boat gave a judder as one of the lowering cables gave way.

"But we can't go back to the ship, there is no way up from here." Paul said not understanding what Mark meant at first as there was an almighty cracking sound as a whole appeared in the roof of the lifeboat.

"The pressure is to great in the front end, she is going to split right down the middle." Glenn said as they all back up near the door and huddled there in the cold. Glenn looked at Mark as they both held tightly to Natalya and Gail who were shaking in their arms as the temperature dropped impossibly low and icicles began to form on the front window and the seating area.

"How is this happening?" Shawn cried above the noise of the wind that was now blowing in through the ever increasing gap in the roof. No one answered his question, they couldn't. All plunging downwards for a moment a set of screams were released as the lifeboat dropped down. Thinking that this was it, that they were going to hit the water a break into tiny pieces Paul held on to Stephanie like she was anchoring him in place. As he pressed his cheek to hers he could feel how cold she was. Snapping his head away from her so that he could look into her eyes, fearing that she was dead Paul was stopped in his tracks by the deep blackness that stared back at him.

"Steph?" He questioned now feeling unbearable heat rise within him. Looking at the others and seeing that they were too busy watching as the ship broke apart from under them Paul managed to croke out his wife's name once more hoping to get through to his wife, not the thing that was now looking at him.

"She is not hear anymore Paul, only I am here, and now it's time to pay up in full." The thing said, its voice attracting the looks of the others as the ship finally gave way.

"Help!" Natalya shouted as she slid towards the edge of what was left of the boat. Looking down she could only see cold ocean as Shawn grabbed hold of her hand and held on tightly.

"It's ok I've got you." He said not noticing the black shadow that had departed though the now open door behind them. Leaving the dead body of its once husband to slip down and into the ocean below.

"Paul!" Mark cried trying to snatch at his friends body not realising that he was already beyond saving. Mark held on tight to Gail as the sound of another cable giving way rang in their ears. Looking across to his brother Mark offered him a small smile as the cracking sound got louder until the final cable gave way.

Looking down at the life boat hit the ocean, it watched as the boat broke in to several pieces. The bodies contained within who had hung on for as long as possible, were now trapped inside the sinking prison. What had once been their answer to escape, was now their watery tomb. Turing from the railings and taking no time to appreciate the view, the thing that was once Stephanie McMahon moved back towards its ship to claim the last souls on board.

Ok so who guessed that one was coming. Ha, I like being unpredictable it makes things more interesting when you read my stories. I am sorry this chapter was a little short but it seemed like a good place to leave it. For me anyway, kind of a cliff hanger for you guys. Anyway drop me a review and I will update nice and quickly. Thanks for reading XxX.


	6. Chapter 6

Welcome dear readers I am back with another update.

Please note this chapter contains strong language from the outset. Sorry but sugar and oh blimey just didn't really cover it.

Ted and Cody had been too busy checking behind them, making sure nothing was chasing them, or if it was that it wasn't getting any closer. They hadn't realised they had separated from Maryse and Mike. Now they were lost below decks, each corridor seeming to lead to another, and none which led on to the outer decks.

"We're going in circles Ted." Cody said finally stopping and leaning against the wall. They had been running for what seemed like forever. Only stopping to check deck numbers and checking doors. Now stood in the centre of a corridor Cody had decided her had had enough.

"I know, but how?" Ted said seeing the sign for deck seven for the third time and shaking his head. They had turned right the first time, and left the second and both times ended up back here.

"Whatever is wrong here, it's not just the killing's the ship is wrong to, I don't know how I can just feel it, like it wants us to be here, and no matter which way we go we will end up back right in this very spot." Cody said now standing up, recovered from their exertions. Ted looked at him with concern at first, like he was trying to figure out if his friend had in fact lost his marbles. Then he sighed, he could feel it to. The Queen Anne was wrong, she didn't float majestically across the ocean, she slithered though the sea like it was wet mud, her hull even groaned menacingly at the movement as they stood their looking at one another in silence.

"Ok so what are we supposed to do about it? I mean if we stay here we die, I know that Cody, I know it as well as I know my own name." Ted said now feeling the icy chill run down his spine as something was coming.

"We could try splitting up, going in opposite directions?" Cody suggested but the idea did not appeal to him one bit.

"Alone down here no thanks, maybe we could try hiding in one of the rooms?" Ted suggested but Cody was already shaking his head.

"Wherever we are, it knows Ted, as long as we are on this ship there isn't anywhere to hide." Cody said as the corridor went suddenly silent, not even the sound of the ship creaking could be heard and Ted and Cody did the only thing they could do.

"Run!" Ted yelled taking the right hand turn at the end of the corridor and this time making sure Cody was right there with him.

Ted and Maryse had tried to get back inside the ship but the door was locked. Neither of them could work out how, but they could not open it either. Finally giving up with a huff Mike pulled away from the door and wrapped his arms around Maryse for support.

"Whatever closed that door does not want us to get back in there." He said as he felt Maryse's head bib next to his chest.

"We have to go to the life boat and tell the others not to leave." Maryse said knowing that Ted and Cody were still alive, but for how long was a question she couldn't answer.

"Ok maybe with the others help I could get this door open too. That or they may know another way in." Ted said as they turned from the entrance to the ship and made their way along the deck. It didn't take them long to notice the absence of the life boat.

"What they must have left!" Mike said now virtually sprinting along the gangway as Maryse wrapped her arms around herself to fight off the bitter wind. The sinking feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach however was a different matter. Approaching the cables and lowering cranes where the life boat once stood she watched as Mike leaned over and tried to spot the boat in the water. Hoping they had waited for them below.

"Mike" Maryse said softly but he didn't hear her.

"Mike!" This time she yelled and he span round having almost slipped over the railings.

"Shit Maryse" Mike exclaimed running a hand through his hair as the wind whipped Maryse's around her face. Brushing it out of the way she went over to the cables and pulled one towards her. Mike saw the problem immediately. The cable was frayed and broken, the life boat had not been lowered into the ocean it had fallen.

"Could they have survived that fall?" Maryse asked knowing she didn't need to explain what the condition of the cable meant, it was written all over Mike's face.

"Maybe, if the boat stayed intact, but the fact that they are not down there seems to suggest not." Mike said now not wanting to look over the side in case he saw bodies floating in the water.

"God Mike a party of over twenty people and now there are eight of us left, and with no way off this ship." Maryse started crying as Mike pulled her close to him and held her tight in an embrace that was severely needed on both sides.

"We're doomed Mike, we are never leaving this ship." Maryse said quietly into his chest but Mike heard every word.

Beth was too scared to move her body frozen in place as the world seemed to stand still but for a moment, everything in a state of pause except for that wardrobe door. It opened ever so slowly, Beth wasn't even sure it was happening. As she watched the blackness appear from within a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Beth?"

"Fuck John!" Beth shouted turning round and almost punching him in the nose.

"Beth?" He questioned again this time referring to her potty mouth more than her wellbeing.

"Well Fuck John, you scared the hell out of me." Beth said as she watched Randy and Mickie move about nervously at the door way as she turned back to the wardrobe. The door had in fact opened but there was nothing inside but darkness. The icy chill she once had up her spine had now gone and the ship seemed to have returned to normal. Whatever the hell that was.

"Sorry, but I thought you ,never mind, let's get out of here a. I don't want to see Phil like that." John said pointing to the body, something Beth had completely forgotten about. Bending down now to take a closer look the blonde saw that just like Kelly and Melina. Pill had no injuries on him, he was also frozen in a shocked and pain filled expression. Standing up Beth strode quickly out of the door and shut it behind her.

"Well?" Randy asked as he watched Beth move over to the other side of the corridor and lean heavily against it. Looking at Mickie when she didn't respond he didn't like the look in her eyes, it was kind of far away, not really focusing on anything. Taking hold of her shoulders Randy made the brunette look at him and she seemed to snap back to reality.

"Mickie what's wrong?" Randy asked as he took a brief glance at John who was looking at him with a worried expression.

"I think the others are dead, the ones on the life boat." Mickie said, she had no idea how she knew this but it was a pretty strong feeling and for some reason she knew she should trust it.

"How, I mean, you can't know for sure." Randy said not quite believing it, but at the same time knowing it was true. Mickie just shook her head as the sound of Beth emptying her stomach could be heard. As the three of them had stood talking about the others they had not noticed the blonde's departure.

"Beth" Mickie called breaking out from Randy's grasp and rushing over to her friend who was stopped over in a corner. Getting to Beth and placing a hand on her back Mickie rubbed her soothingly until the blonde was once again upright.

"Thanks I'm ok, I guess it was just the thought of the bodies you know catching up with me." Beth said wiping her mouth as the boys came over to join them.

"Mickie thinks the ones on the life boat are dead." John said placing his hand on Beth's upper arm and caressing it gently with his thumb. Beth looked at Mickie and nodded her head. She was not someone who generally believed in little green men, and vampires, but right now she believed in the evilness of this ship. And the dark force which it contained.

"She is probably right, I mean it has tried to stop us from leaving the ship from the outset. First killing anyone who might be able to sail it, they blowing up the control room. It would seem logical to destroy the one way we had of getting off this ship." Beth said as Randy nodded his head, Beth did have a point and until now he had been to blinded by fear and disbelief to see it.

"You know I don't believe in the bogey man right, but this ship is bad." Randy said then and none of them were going to disagree with that statement.

"You know I have read about things like this, haunted houses, churches that have evil spirits in them." John said to everyone's surprise he was the last person they had expected to know about these types of things.

"Never a ship though." He continued looking around but not seeing anything that would give him a clue to this deadly haunting. The others seemed to pause waiting for him to tell them what he knew as the emergency lighting gave another flicker and Mickie grabbed hold of Randy's hand. She squeezed it tightly until the dim green glow returned and they all let out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe we should head back, I don't like it down here, not enough escape routes." Randy said not letting go of Mickie's hand and encouraging her forward until they were all walking back towards the ball room. All of them knowing that returning to the life boat would be pointless right now and would probably only increase their chances of dying right now. Not that that was not where they all thought they might be headed anyway.

"John can tell us a ghost story on the way." Randy said finally as they made it back to the stairs and ascended them slowly one at a time.

Ted and Cody had ran into a dead end, well it was more like a meeting room. They had thought at first it was another corridor, one they hadn't been down. It was not like the cabin doors, it was larger and had a view port in. neither man looked before they entered the room. Now they were circling the walls looking for a way out and coming up with nothing.

"We're trapped." Ted said meeting back up with Cody in the centre of the room next to the elaborate table. It was from what they could see oval in shape and had four chairs lined up down either side. The chairs all looked like they had seen better days. One sat at an odd angel, obviously with a broken leg, another was missing the seat cover, and two of them had so much stuffing coming out that the chairs must have been pure wood.

"Don't suppose they used this room too much in the recent past." Ted said attempting a joke but it fell flat as the room turned cold. The large windows at the side of the room clouded over with the chill in the air and Cody watched as Ted's breath created a mist right in front of his eyes.

"We have to get out of here." Cody said teeth chattering as Ted looked around and finally his eyes settled on the windows.

"The glass we could smash it?" Ted said picking up one of the dilapidated chairs and moving across to the windows. Swinging the chair back in a high arch Ted brought the chair down full force in the centre of the window. The chair broke apart in his hands. Nothing but splinters fell to the floor while the window remained in tacked.

"Shit, no good, must be bullet proof or something, they must open somewhere though." Ted said turning to Cody who was looking at one of the View ports lines up along the back wall.

"We must be right at the front of the ship for it to have two rows of windows." Cody said moving to the one in question, it was open and was easily big enough for them to slip though.

"Great, come on, whatever is lurking outside is not going to be waiting for an invitation." Ted said giving Cody a boost up so that he went head first on his belly though the view port.

"What's the other side?" Ted asked as he looked at his fingers which had begun to turn blue in the coolness of the room.

"There is a small ledge, we will have to be careful but we can make it to the main deck." Cody replied as he began to move forward so that now his middle was sat in the window ledge and all that poked out Ted's end were his legs. Just as Ted got himself ready to haul himself up Cody began to shout.

"The hole its getting smaller!" He cried as Ted turned from the door, which he had been watching like a hawk to Cody's legs and the circle of metal that surrounded them. Cody had been right, what was once a large opening, now was barely big enough for Cody to get his body though.

"Help, pull me in!" Cody called as Ted grabbed hold of his friends legs. Pulling with all his might he could not move Cody back though the port hole. Cody was screaming in panic now.

"It's going to cut me in half!" He cried as Ted saw that the hole had now decreased in size enough that Cody's legs were now the only part of him that was visible.

"You will have to go through, leave me here." Ted shouted knowing if Cody couldn't go back he would have to go forward.

"I can't move I'm stuck." Cody shouted and Ted thought he heard the should of bones cracking, but Cody made no noise.

"Cody you ok?" Ted called but he got no reply, worried now that Cody was dead Ted placed his hand on the man's legs and felt the heat of his skin beneath his trousers.

"Yeah I'm ok, I think its stopped shrinking, I might be able to get free." Cody said as his legs began to move and Ted let out a huff of air. One which floated into his vision as though it were cigarette smoke commanded by only the wind.

"Hey Ted can you give me a push?" Cody said but as Ted went to help out his friend the legs stopped moving and Cody seemed to freeze.

"hey how did you get here?" Ted could here Cody talking to someone it was muffled and he couldn't make out much. Leaning forward so he could here better he was almost knocked on to his arse as Cody's legs shot through the hole and a the wind whipped in though the gap.

"Cody!" Ted yelled running to the hole, but now it was so much smaller he couldn't see much.

"Cody!" He yelled again pushing his head though the view port as far as it would go until he could see the small gangway outside, but there was no one there. Pulling himself back though before the hole close further right on his head. Ted jumped back from the view port at the last second as a pair of dark black eyes appeared for a moment in the space beyond.

As he stumbled over a chair Ted felt the room warm up once more, not pausing, or even thinking for one moment Cody could be saved Ted ran for the door and now found it unlocked. Bolting down the hallway Ted had never felt so alone in all his life.

Mike and Maryse had tried to get back inside the ship walking almost the entire Starboard side with no luck. It was cold out here. The wind was fierce and it was hard to hear and see anything. The stars and moon had disappeared behind ever gathering clouds and right now there was nowhere for them to go.

Coming back to the place where the lifeboat and their friends had probably met their watery deaths Mike stopped at the door they had not so long ago walked though.

"You know I have this strange feeling this is going to open this time." He said as Maryse didn't reply he turned to her, following her gaze his eyes fell upon what the blonde had seen.

"Stephanie! How did you get here?"

Oh no what have I done. Will Maryse and Mike realise in time or will their fate be the same as the others. To find out leave me some words of encouragement, I could do with it right now I am super busy, writing is something I am doing instead of sleeping, not good. Anyway thanks for reading XxX


	7. Chapter 7

Time to find out just who is next. Please enjoy.

As they walked through the ship Mickie held tightly to Randy, the last thing she wanted was to get lost alone down here. She checked behind her to make sure that Beth was still following, the blonde was too busy looking where she was going to notice Mickie looking at her. Just as she was about to ask Beth if she was ok John spoke up.

"You know I think whatever this thing is, is not just out to kill people, usually a haunting has some kind of personal reason, either haunting your killer, a family member that did you wrong in life. This is why this is all so strange." John said as Randy pushed the door open that connected to the lobby and they all stepped out into the wide open space. It felt both good and bad to be in the open. On the one hand they didn't feel so trapped, there were more places to escape, but along with that came more places to hide. Everywhere they looked there was a dark corner where something could be lurking.

"Maybe we should move this into the ball room." Beth suggested moving passed them all and over to the large double doors at the end of the lobby. None of them argued with her. Following Beth they all entered the ball room. It was the same as when they had last been there. Chairs and tables all gathered together, glasses and empty bottles of champagne littered the room. Beth was surprised at how short a time it had been since they had all been in here celebrating.

"Tell us more John, maybe if we can figure out what we are fighting then we might be able to get off this dam ship." Randy said sitting in one of the chairs as Mickie sat next to him. Beth perched on a table and John swung a chair round and sat on it backwards.

"Well like I said this is no ordinary haunting, the ghosts, poltergeist whatever you want to call it. It kills indiscriminately, it sounds to me like a soul collector." John said and Beth looked up now she had been lost in thought for a while now but this caught her attention.

"Soul collector why is it that rings a bell?" She said thinking back to some of the books she had read, ones that were supposedly in the fiction section, but now seemed to be making a cross into reality.

"Not sure, I don't know much about them, but they say in life they made a pact with the devil, they got whatever they wanted in life, money, fame whatever , but in death they owed a hundred souls." John continued as Beth finally felt the pieces clicking together.

"That's why there are no injuries on the bodies, they had their soul sucked right out of them. God no wonder they all looked terrified." Beth said as she wrapped her arms around herself as John came over and pulled her in for a hug. Beth went willingly as Randy looked around for any sign that they weren't alone. He could see nothing, but no one had seen anything since they had been there, it was more a feeling than anything else.

"Would this thing have to take on some kind of form to kill?" Randy asked as Beth pulled away from John as the superstar ran his hand though his hair pondering the question.

"Not sure, maybe, if they do we will have to be careful as it would be able to possess anyone of us, in fact it could have been one of us from the beginning." John said now eyeing all the others in the room suspiciously.

"No wonder no one ran away or screamed, they probably didn't even know it was happening until the last moment. And Phil thinking he could hear Melina when she was already dead, this thing is not just about killing it has certain control of this ship, and while we are on it there is no way we can get out alive." Beth said finally seeing what was going on, but as yet had no idea how to get out of it.

"What if it is one of us, how will we know until it's too late?" Mickie said now looking at Beth who suspiciously now seemed to have all the answers

"I guess we don't know for sure, but I would imagine it would take some time to possess someone, none of us have been alone long enough." Beth said realising where Mickie was taking this and she didn't like it. Now was not the time for them to start distrusting one another.

"Plus we would have had plenty of opportunity to kill each other all ready, this thing is not looking for anonymity when it kills just opportunity." John supplied not wanting anyone to think Beth was the killer when he knew for a fact she wasn't. They all looked at one another now, there was distrust there but they all knew doing this alone was a death sentence.

"So what's the plan?" Randy said finally as John let out a sigh and Mickie glanced over at Beth who had finally sat down in a chair. The exhaustion finally catching up with her as John had a suggestion.

"Well as far as I can see, there are only two options, we leave this ship or we die." He said and Mickie was shocked by his bluntness but not surprised. After all John was not known for sugar coating things.

"That's not entirely true." Beth spoke up and now all eyes were on her as she looked at them one at a time before speaking.

"We could try and kill it."

Ted had run blind into a part of the ship he did not recognise, looking around now he realised he had made it to the engine room. It smelt of oil and the floor was slippery where water had been leaking in. there was not enough on the floor to worry Ted but the going was traitorous and it was slowing him down.

He had been trying hard not to think about Cody, about how his life had been snuffed out in a instant, so young with so much left to do in his life, and now there was no chance of him doing it. Looking for some way off this doomed cruise had made Ted focus rather than breaking down in a corner and just waiting for the end to come. He finally found the main control panel and saw that it was intact. He looked at the ancient controls and he knew he could figure them out. Working on the basis that everyone was dead, or going that way in a hurry, ted's plan was to blow the ship and send whatever the hell this ting was straight back to hell. Where it had come from. Having very little light to work from Ted knew this was going to take time, and right now time was something he knew was something he was running out of. Breaking off the panel Ted put his hands inside and began to pull out the control wires and he knew this was the last time the Queen Anne would ever sail the ocean.

Mike held on to Maryse as Stephanie moved towards them. She hadn't said anything, nor had she looked at them properly either. Her head was down and her face turned from the wind. Maryse went to move forward but Mike grabbed her by the arm. There was something very wrong here, the way Steph was moving seemed so unnatural, like she was gliding rather than walking. How she had not ran to them after certainly witnessing the death of her husband and close friends.

"Stephanie what's wrong?" Maryse called but she had stopped in her attempt to move forward now, obviously sensing what Mike had done. Still the woman did not reply and the urge to run was building inside both people standing in front of what had been a locked door. On instinct Mike turned round and pulled open the door. Not expecting it to do so Mike almost flew backwards with the force he had used to get the door open.

"Inside!" He yelled at Maryse who didn't need telling twice as the blonde whipped around away from the direction that Stephanie was coming at a curiously slow, but disturbing pace. Running though the doorway Mike slammed it closed behind them and pulled the handle to lock it.

"Not sure that's going to work, but it might slow her down." Mike said turning to Maryse who was lent up against the wall. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she almost didn't hear what Mike had said.

"What's do you think is wrong with her?" Maryse asked as they headed down the stairs which led to the main lobby.

"Not sure she looked like she was stoned or something." Mike said as they got the last step and a flash of light made his heart stop for a beat.

"Fuck you guys, where the hell did you come from?" Randy shouted as his flashlight illuminated Mike and Maryse now stood at the bottom of the stairway and lurking at the door.

"Out on deck, god are we glad to see you guys the life boat has gone, but that's not all there is something wrong with Stephanie." Mike said as Beth and John joined them as they heard the comment about Steph.

"What you have seen her?" Mickie said afraid for her friend for a moment before Mike continued.

"Yeah, that's who we were running from, she isn't right, like she is on drugs or something." Mike said and they all knew then just who this sprit had taken over.

"Well at least now we don't have to keep an eye on each other." John said slight sarcasm edging his voice as Beth gave him a quick smile. Maryse and Mike looked confused for a second as Randy moved forward.

"Don't worry we will fill you in on the way." He said pointing the flashlight down a service corridor as Mike came up and joined him.

"On the way where?" he asked not liking the look of the dark hallway on bit.

"To find a way to kill this thing whatever it is, or another boat of some kind to get the hell out of dodge." With that they all made their way along the corridor as John filled them in on their theory of the soul taker.

The thing that now walked the halls of the Queen Anne, looked and sounded like the young woman he has possessed. It was not always this way though, before his death John Newman had been an extremely successful business man. He had never cared who he stepped on to get a head in life and when his fortunes took a turn for the worst that's when he was approached.

The man who had not been a man at all had promised him all the fortune he desired, unbelieving John had decided to go ahead and sign this pact that the raged looking old man offered him. It had binded him to a contract which in the event of his death was due to be paid in full. One hundred souls to be taken for the devil. John did not think about the contract again until the moment of his heart attack in his suit aboard the Queen Anne. Instead of white angels a black clocked figure appeared. When John Newman died was where he was consigned to spend eternity unless he could capture one hundred souls. So far he was on 95 and he could almost taste the freedom, sensing now that someone was in the engine room he turned in that direction. Pausing though he stopped and listened to the silence and felt a much larger presence headed towards the outer decks on the other side of the ship six souls together he could end this before the one in the engine room became a problem. Turning now and heading for the opposite side of the ship he smile to himself. Stephanie's lips cracking slightly at the effort of carry his entity for so long. He briefly wondered if he could get another one alone and swap bodies, after all they all knew who he was now, taking anther my present him with an advantage. Also he could afford to sacrifice one as all he needed were five more. Pushing open the service corridor and turning the hallway to ice, although he could no longer feel such things. The being that was once John Newman made his way along the dark passageway knowing he would catch up with his freedom sooner or later. After all they had nowhere to hide on his ship.

Beth felt the chill in the corridor and was grateful when Randy pushed open the door and they found themselves outside once more. The plan was to find anything they could make into a life raft and get off the ship. There was still the possibility of someone coming to rescue them. Ted's message hadn't been sent all that long ago, and if they were in luck they would get found quickly.

"You know we can't let them take this ship back though, it would all start up again if that were to happen." Beth said as Mike checked inside a trunk at the edge of a deck but found nothing of use.

"What do you mean?" He asked now having heard the story about this thing inhabiting the ship Mike was slightly sceptical that it wasn't just Stephanie gone mad.

"It lives here, somehow it survives by feeding off this ship, controlling it, not just haunting it. We need to sink the ship to get rid of it once and for all." Beth said as John nodded beside her as Maryse scoffed.

"Sorry to sound selfish and all but why is this our problem, once we are out of here I don't care what happens to the thing." The French Canadian replied as Mickie gave her a glower.

"Oh yeah and how would you feel if they sent another party out on this ship and it killed all of them too. I couldn't live with that, don't know how your continence is feeling." Mickie said the anger evident in her voice as Maryse cowered somewhat in the light of Mickie's words.

"Yeah well I guess so, but right now we have to get out of here alive first or this entire conversation is pointless." Mike said seeing that Maryse was feeling pretty bad now for saying what she said, and they didn't need to be squabbling amongst themselves. There were far worst things waiting for each and every one of them.

"What about Ted ad Cody, has anyone seen or heard anything of them?" Randy said as his eyes fell upon something which looked suspiciously like an inflatable raft. Walking over to it he saw everyone shake their heads to his questions, no one wanted to voice the implications of that. Pulling the package off the wall Randy hauled the orange material into the centre of the deck. Breaking open the seal he ripped off the clear packaging and opened up the rough material. It was in fact a raft, there was one problem, right now they had nothing to blow it up with. John walked over followed by Beth as they looked down at what could be their salvation.

"Great, that will take hours to blow up manually, and excuse me for being the harbinger of doom, but we really don't have that long." Beth said picking up one flat end of the raft as the rest of their group joined them.

"Ok so we either find something to expand this thing with or we create some kind of diversion so that we have time to blow it up manually." Randy said wanting to think of ideas right now not more issues and Beth placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry Randy I didn't mean to snap, look we should at least get it down to the lower deck so we can just push it out into the ocean when it is ready. Carrying it now whist's its flat will be much easier than when it is fully expanded." She said and Randy smiled at her, she did have a point and time was indeed of the essence here.

"Ok people let's go and stick together." Randy said picking up one end of the raft while John and Mike also took a corner. Beth took point with the flash light and Mickie and Maryse brought up the rear. Beth avoided the door which would lead back down the hallway they had just been down, she knew something was waiting for them in there. Instead she headed along the deck and pulled open the next door. The passageway lead down a dark stairway none of them had yet been down. It did however feel deserted and that was far safer than the alternative.

Ted had managed to get the wires he needed out of the control board exposing them with his teeth, he used the main wires that powered all the ships electricity. The power might have been off but the wires were still live. He knew once he fused them together with the main power line to the engines it would create a significant explosion. Maybe not enough to blow the ship, but sink it certainly. Ted paused before crossing the wires, he wanted to say something significant before he died, but realising that there was no one around to hear it he shrugged his shoulders and fused the wires together.

Oh no what had Ted done, everyone is still alive and with a away off the ship now, does he have some kind of agenda or is this revenge for Cody? Will the others get out in time and will the ghost go down with his ship. If you want to know send me a review and I will update quickly for you. Thanks for reading XxX.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry to keep you waiting enough said. Please enjoy.

Ted backed up slightly and closed his eyes, just waiting for the end, at first he thought about running, getting away from the explosion. After a brief consideration though after hearing Cody's scream of fear, Ted decided getting blown up would be better than being caught by whatever was after him.

Tensing his body he flinched slightly as the wires fused and sparked, opening his eyes a crack he watched as smoke poured out of the hole and a bang made him jump. The emergency lighting went off and the engine room was plunged into darkness. Standing in the pitch black Ted knew he had failed, and now he couldn't see a dam thing.

"Fucking brilliant." He exclaimed into the darkness as only silence greeted him back. Ted turned now in the darkness, not knowing now how he was supposed to get out of this one.

As Beth walked down yet another corridor the emergency lighting went off. They all paused waiting for it to come back on but it didn't. the darkness was almost absolute until Mickie switched on the flashlight.

"Christ what do you think happened?" Maryse asked as she looked around at the faces now cast in eerie shadows. No one answered her question, none of them liked the answer that they had come up with. That whatever was after them had sabotaged them and had finally landed them in serious trouble.

"Thank god I kept hold of this." Mickie said now moving up to the front with some difficulty, as squeezing passed the guys carrying the raft in the narrow hallway was some task. As she pushed passed Randy she felt his hand caress her arm in a silent gesture of thanks and she turned her head and smiled at him. Not that he could see her expression in this cavern of black, but the thought was there none the less.

"Ok lead the way Mick's." Beth said backing up and allowing her friend passed, they were unlikely to get anywhere without illumination anyway. Setting off once more they seemed to finally come to some sort of end room. Looking at one another as Mickie shone the light thought the tiny window the brunette turned around.

"Nothing in there, not sure if there is some kind of exit the if there side though, I guess we had better check." She said and before anyone could protest Mickie had opened the door and moved forward sweeping her light from side the side. The door banging closed behind her made her drop the flashlight. Forgetting it and running to the door Mickie pulled on it furiously trying to open the heavy metal object but it was not budging.

"Help guys I am locked in!" Mickie yelled praying that her friends were alright. That Randy was alright. Banging on the door as loud as she could hurting her hand in the process all Mickie got in return was silence.

Beth almost made it to the door has her hand came down on the handle the door slammed home, causing the sound to echo throughout the corridor. Pulling on the handle in vain Beth was joined by Randy who started pounding on the door and calling to Mickie loud enough to wake the dead.

"Randy, Randy." John said coming up behind his friend and laying his hand on Randy's shoulder. Randy stopped yelling and turned around to try and see John in the pitch black. Now they had lost the flashlight they had been surrounded by complete darkness.

"It's probably sound proof she can't hear us we can't hear her." John said keeping his hand on Randy's shoulder, mainly so that he wouldn't lose him.

"So what now, we can't just leave her in there." Randy said the distress evident in his voice as another body came closer. The swishing of the clothes the only thing that alerted both Randy and John to this fact and they both tensed.

"We won't leave her in there Randy trust me." Beth said the sound of her voice relieving the boy's tension slightly as more movement came from behind them. All snapping their heads in the direction of the sound they waited in silence, hoping that the room was not about to become cold.

"This happened outside." Mike's voice said as himself and Maryse located the other three by the sound of them talking. Reaching out and finding what felt like a shoulder a small gasp came from what was most likely Beth as Mike pulled Maryse along behind him.

"It's only us Beth, I was saying this happened outside, one minute the door was open, then it was locked." He said as the others listened. Not only for Mike to continue but for any strange noises as well.

"So how did you get back in?" Randy asked getting inpatient now. Mickie had been alone in that room long enough now to already be dead. Having to work really hard to keep still Randy reached behind himself and found the wall. Leaning back against it he let out a long sigh as Maryse spoke up.

"It just opened, like whatever this thing is wanted it too, although I don't know why it had us right where it wanted us." Maryse said now pondering that thought for a moment and coming up blank.

"This is going to sound crazy but what if we wanted something enough, wished for it hard enough it happened. I mean look we all wanted that left raft and bingo Randy found one then when you two really wanted to escape the door miraculously opened." John said as Beth caught on to his line of thinking as she heard movement which she assumed was Randy.

"What if it is more than that, what if our fears drive this thing? Like Phil thinking he heard Melina, he was obviously worried about her and so he went to save her."

"And ended up like the human yeti down below deck." Randy added as he had in fact moved in closer, and he was now standing right next to Beth. Close enough so that his breath was caressing the hair on her shoulder.

"Yes indeed, but don't you get it, if our fears give it strength, our desires might weaken its grip on the ship somehow." Beth continued a little nervous about Randy's close proximity, she said nothing however as he may not realise that he was so close in this absolute darkness.

"Then what are you trying to say, that if we desire it badly enough the door will just open. Right now I do not want Stephanie to appear, or whatever it is to frighten me enough to get in that room." Maryse replied as she checked over her shoulder for just that. But of course she saw only darkness. Realising all of a sudden that this thing could be standing right next to one of them and they wouldn't have a clue Maryse held tightly to Mike.

"What is it Maryse?" Mike said feeling the blondes panic as he looked down at her. Seeing nothing in the darkness he reached out and found her shoulder. Giving it a small squeeze Maryse caught hold of his hand.

"We can't stay her." She said with such conviction that all of them too notice.

"But we can't abandon Mickie either." Randy chipped in and Beth turned slightly so she could touch him. Reaching out she found his chest and she felt Randy jump under her hand.

"It me. You have to open the door Randy; you want it more than any of us." Beth said allaying his fears and then telling him something he already knew.

"I know, but I don't think I can do it." He said, Randy was not one to usually back away from a fight, but this one was with himself. Did he really have the desire to free Mickie before something happened he couldn't take back. The thought alone drove him to the door. Beth felt him move away and she held her breath in anticipation.

"Don't worry Mickie I am coming."

Ted walked the dark corridors not knowing where he was going and not really caring either. He couldn't be certain he was all alone on this ship. In fact he knew he wasn't. The thing that killed Cody was out there somewhere, and Ted could bet that it was now wondering aimlessly though the decks of the ship. He also wondered why it hadn't come for him yet.

"Unless." He said out loud to himself. "Unless it's found a bigger target, like the others. Randy and John." Ted stopped knowing that his theory although flawed did have merit. Looking into the darkness he could see a small sliver of light at the end of the corridor. It was obviously a door way that lead to the outside of the ship. Moving towards it Ted thought he could at least get some kind of bearing on where he was. Having a purpose now Ted walked faster, the light becoming more encompassing the closer he got to it. Finally reaching the doorway and taking a quick glance at the deck outside he saw no one and nothing moving. Pushing open the door Ted walked out on to the deck and saw that he was by the swimming pool. Somehow he had made it from the engine room right at the base of the ship to the highest deck. Well highest except the observation deck. Looking up all Ted saw was stars and darkness. Not the kind of darkness that the ship was now cast in, but no sign of another ship either. Thinking that if his message had gone out surely someone would have made it here by now Ted looked down at the still water below. The wind had completely dropped now and the ship seemed to be motionless, or almost motionless in the water. Pushing away from the side he had a feeling that he was on the wrong part of the ship. That right now he needed to head downstairs, that that was where everyone else was. Moving back away from the edge of the ship Ted made for the entrance at the far side of the pool, near the bar. He didn't know why he wanted and needed to go this way, and right now he wasn't going to question it. Opening the door Ted thought his first priority would be to get some kind of light. Heading below deck via the stairs Ted walked carefully so not to trip. Not needing a nasty accident right now he placed each foot carefully on the step below and finally reaching the bottom let out a sigh of relief. Looking first left then right his gut was telling him left. Not thinking about it too hard Ted made his way down the left had corridor keeping on hand on a wall in case he should come into contact with something useful like a flash light, or a weapon. Moving into a hallway with windows Ted could see better and he made faster progress as the ship groaned once more like it was in pain. Ted patted the metal under his hand.

"Don't worry old girl this will all be over soon."

Mickie fell flat on her arse as the door opened suddenly. The light behind her from her forgotten flashlight illuminated the person enough to show her the smiling and relieved face of Randy Orton. Mickie accepted his had to help her stand back upright. Snatching the flashlight off the floor Mickie was so relieved that she lent forward on her tip toes and kissed Randy hard on the lips. Smashing their faces together slightly in sheer happiness Mickie forgot to actually enjoy the feel of Randy's lips beneath hers.

"Sorry, but how did you get the door open it was locked?" Mickie said finally breaking the kiss and smiling at Randy's shocked and flushed face. He had not been oblivious to who had been kissing him and what she had felt like beneath his lips. A cough from behind caught their attention as Mike smiled broadly at them.

"Good to see you again Mickie in more ways than one." Mike was referring to the fact that now the flashlight was back they could at least make one another out again. Having to worry of the boogie man was the one holding your hand instead of your friend had made them all more than jumpy.

"Good to see you to, but how?" Mickie said moving completely away from the threshold of the room now and out into the hallway.

"We will have to explain on the way, the fact that this happened must mean that this thing is close." Beth said renewing their previous sense of urgency as they all looked at one another and got the hint. Leaving Mickie in front and all of the wrestlers taking a corner of raft this time they made swifter progress down the corridor. None of them really knew where they were headed but it felt like the right direction. The raft was pretty heavy though and awkward it was slowing them down. Leaving it wasn't an option however everywhere they went now seemed to be cold, like they were only a few strides in front of whatever was chasing them. Beth checked behind her but saw nothing, she looked over at John but he wasn't paying much attention just trying to stay upright. Randy had been quite, almost silent since they left he had only spoken once to ask Mike to pull his side of the raft up slightly. Maryse had been making most of the conversation, chatting on about what they had discussed in the hallway while Mickie had been trapped. Beth suspected that Maryse didn't like the silence, and Beth had to admit neither did she.

Coming to a T junction Mickie made straight for the right hand turn as Randy stopped them dead in their tracks.

"That's the wrong way." He said as Beth looked at John and John shook his head back at her.

"No I'm sure this way is right." Mickie said pointing the flashlight straight at Randy who was shaking his head. Mike dropped his end of the raft suddenly making Maryse gasp with the suddenness of it.

"Look just pick one, this thing is getting really heavy, and we haven't even found a way to blow it up yet." He said not knowing which way to go himself and finally letting the frustration of being trapped and hunted get to him. Punching the wall hard Mike let out a shout as Maryse tried to comfort him with a hand on his back but the superstar just shrugged her off.

"Mike?" Maryse questioned as he started to pace, feeling like a caged lion and knowing he was not the top predator on this barge.

"Look maybe I have had enough ok. Fear the dark, desire what in the blue hell could possibly get any worse than this twisted situation?" He asked as Beth walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, not allowing him to shrug her off like he did Maryse. Beth kept hold of his upper arm until he was facing her.

"If you only have the fear and the dark, then there can be no desire, that's what it wants Mike, to take our souls it must first break them. Don't let it take yours." She said as Mike relaxed his shoulders and dropped his head. Looking passed Beth he offered Maryse a small smile by way of an apology. The blonde accepted it with a small nod of the head as Mike turned his eyes back on Beth who was giving him a soft smile of her own.

"I will do my best, sorry I lost it there for a moment." Mike said as Beth released her grip on him and moved back to her station on the raft. John picked up his end and Maryse and Mike supported the opposite side. Randy was the only one left not holding onto the orange tarpaulin.

"I'm telling you though we need to go left." Randy said as Mickie started to move again down the right hand corridor and stopped mid stride.

"Why are you so insistent, we have never been down here before, and I am getting the feeling that this is the right way." Mickie replied pointing the flashlight in the direction she wanted to head. Showing them with the beam of light exactly where she meant.

"I don't know either, I just can't shake the feeling that it is left. Why are you so sure you're right and I'm not?" Randy said folding his arms and looking back at the rest of the ground. They were all to shocked to say anything. It wasn't so long ago that the pair had been in a fierce lip lock. Now they were staring daggers at one another and it all seemed far to strange.

"I don't know, but maybe you are trying to make us go the wrong way for some reason." Mickie said her tone accusing and Randy couldn't miss it.

"And you could be doing the same thing." Randy replied until John's voice broke the argument abruptly.

"Enough, we leave the raft here and separate, only until we see something useful ." John said as Beth scowled at him.

"Like what a neon sign pointing Exit this way." The blonde snapped off as Mike lowered the raft again but this time he didn't go off in a rage.

"Come on guys this isn't right, something is going on here and I bet it has something to do with whatever has been after us." He said hoping logic would prevail.

"What do you know? You know as much about the paranormal as I do about spot wielding." Maryse replied also throwing down her end of the raft and facing off with mike who was holding up his hand palms first.

"I think we all need to calm down before someone gets hurt." Mike said not knowing why he was the only rational one here but feeling very scared by that prospect. Even Beth who was usually the first one to look for a calm solution was scowling at him like she wanted to kill him. Randy and Mickie were moving closer to one another and this time it didn't look like they were about to kiss. Holding his head in his hands and closing his eyes Mike muttered to himself as he felt eyes on him.

"Stop just stop, why is this happening to them?"

The thing which was John Newman and then Stephanie McMahon was now enjoying this new power in it recent body switch. Turning them on each other was a great way of separating them. Then all it would have to do was pick them off one by one.

That's it for this chapter. So who is it in now? Will its plan work will they all fight and split up, or can Mike make them see sense. If it's really Mike that is, to find out leave me a review and I will update. Thanks for reading XxX


	9. Chapter 9

Welcome back horror fans. Hope you have been early anticipating this chapter.

On a random note I have been typing so much on my new laptop I have worn out the E. lol not important just a fact. Please enjoy.

Mike looked around at his quarrelling friends. Subjects ranged from direction to the burden of the raft. Trivial things that had not been a problem up until now. Not knowing what to do Mike had tuned out the abuse from Maryse as he tried to think logically about what was going on, and why he hadn't been effected by it. Or had he? Before they all started on one another he had this deep feeling of rage. Beth had managed to calm him down, but now it seemed they were experiencing the same feelings. Grabbing hold of Maryse and stopping her mid rant Mike looked into her eyes.

"Maryse stop, this isn't you, something is telling you to act like this. Think Maryse." Mike pleaded with the blonde as she blinked owlishly once then again. Mike thought for a moment that he had brought her back to rational thought. That idea was soon out of the window though when she spun around and walked off. Straight into the darkness without even a glance back.

"Maryse, Maryse wait." Mike called not knowing what to do. He really should go after her, make sure she was alright, but he didn't want to leave the others either. In the state they were in they could all flock in different directions, leaving themselves isolated and alone. It was then the final penny dropped for Mike that was what this thing wanted. It probably needed time to kill, to take the person's soul. An interruption would probably prevent it from doing it properly, that or it was vulnerable whist extracting a person's soul.

"Enough, come on snap out of it you lot, this is exactly what this thing wants, to separate us. Beth listen to me." Mike said moving towards the person most likely to listen to him as the blonde shook her head.

"Darkness and desire Beth don't let the fear get to you fight it." Mike said doing a pretty bad job of imitating Beth's words from earlier but it seemed to do the trick.

"Oh god what have I done. John listen to me whatever I said I am sorry, please calm down." Beth said reaching out for John's hand as it was about to come down and hit the wall. The strength in his arm was not that of a normal person though and the first changed direction and struck Beth in the face. Going down like a stone Beth landed on her backside and clutched her cheek. The site of Beth hurt on the floor seemed to do the trick though. Mike was at her side first but John wasn't far behind.

"God Beth I am so sorry I didn't mean to." John said barely keeping his emotions in check as he held her tight to himself as Mike looked on, both worried for Beth but relieved that they were back with him.

"Its ok I am fine. At least you're ok." Beth said allowing John to hold her even if it was restricting her breathing somewhat.

"God what came over us, one minute I was all set to go the next I wanted to hit something." John said helping Beth off the floor as Mike nodded. Remembering that feeling and hoping they could get the rest of them to return to whatever passed for normal around here. Looking over his shoulder to where Mickie and Randy were all that was left of them was the discarded flashlight.

"Shit" Mike said under his breath as Beth and John both turned to look in the direction of his gaze and saw the empty space before them.

"And then there were three." Beth said in a dead pan voice which under any other circumstances would have been funny. But right here right now it carried to much truth to it to be anything but funny.

The feelings of rage and anger subsided in Maryse as she moved further away from the group of people in the corridor. She didn't stop though she kept walking until she realised that she was not only lost, but very much alone. The panic set in almost immediately, looking from left to right but seeing nothing Maryse began to shake with fear. It was like her worst nightmare had come true, alone in the dark being chased by something she couldn't see. The only thing missing was the sound of chains being dragged along the empty corridors. Holding her breath Maryse listened for any sound, as the thought that just thinking about what might be after her would bring it down upon her head. There was however only silence and she finally had to breath, the pressure in her lungs too great to hold her breath any longer. The sound of her hurried breathing seemed so loud in the darkness. Even the beating of her own heart seemed to be echoing along the metal walls, while she stood stock still and listened for anything other than her own fear riddled body.

Knowing that staying here was not an option Maryse decided to retrace her steps, hoping to get back to the others before they left without her. Turning around she moved back down the corridor but as soon as she got to the end she could not remember which way she had come. In fact she didn't even know ultimately how far she had come either. Wanting to hit herself in frustration Maryse settled for the wall. The echo of the thud reverberated off the hull of the ship and made her teeth hurt.

"Ok don't do that again." She said quietly to herself as she finally made the decision to turn right. Waking slowly and carefully now Maryse could barely see her hand in front of her face. Every corridor and hall way looked identical, and there was almost no light to help her tell which way she was going.

" I feel like Alice in wonderland." She said not enjoying the silence and even the sound of her own voice was more comforting than the vacuum of silence that currently surrounded her. Turning another corner Maryse spotted the life raft lying on the floor. Its orange hew just visible in the dim light coming from what probably was a window someway down the hall.

"Yes." She hissed knowing that she could at least wait here, the others would have to return at some point for the raft. Sliding down the wall Maryse hugged her knees to her chin and waited.

Randy had walked until he reached the docking bay, it was the place they had been trying to find when they first set out with the life raft. Now though he was alone and had no raft. Not that he would have left without the others. Another thought stuck him as well though. He had been right, they should have taken the left turning at that T-junction back where they had fought. Which meant Mickie had been wrong, the thought brought a brief smile to his face until he considered what that meant.

"Oh god no" Randy exclaimed into the darkness as the ship groaned once more and Randy froze on the spot. The shiver that ran up his spine was not because someone had walked over his grave, the air had cooled and his teeth wanted to clack together. Relaxing his muscles so they wouldn't do just that Randy made for the exit, as quickly as the lack of light would allow. Knowing that the door might not open he pushed the thought out of his mind and pulled on the handle, believing with all his might that it was just how he left it Unlocked. The door opened with the same ease it had done a moment ago stepping quickly into the hallway beyond Randy noted the sign on the wall and made a right turn. The air was warming up, but Randy was under no illusion that he was safe yet. Determined to not only get back to his friends, but to remember the route Randy snatched up a vase containing a bunch of flowers. Pulling the head off one he dropped it at the entrance to another corridor, indicating where he should turn once he came back with the others. Checking behind him he noticed that he could see his own rapid breaths coming out and disappearing into the darkness beyond where he could see. Breaking into a run now Randy dropped another flower head at the next turn and moved further towards where they had left the life raft.

Mickie had made a left turn, she could hear nothing and even more worrying could see nothing. The darkness in this part of the ship was total. She had lost everyone, scattered to the four winds as they had run from each other to stop the rage that had built up inside them. Feeling like she was going the wrong way Mickie stopped abruptly and turned around. Spotting a flower head on the floor she picked it up and looked at it closely. Only able to make out its dim shape and she smiled, someone had been this way and recently. Following the trail now hoping to find someone Mickie moved far more swiftly along the hallways. With a renewed sense of purpose Mickie let herself relax slightly, knowing that all this tension was doing her no good what so ever. Now seeing a dim light up ahead Mickie let out a long slow breath, there was something very calming about even such a small amount of light. Not that it would do anyone any good in the end, light or not they were pretty much all doomed on this ship anyway.

Ted had found a flashlight and a hammer, he had located the storage cupboard by accident, he had thought it a door to another corridor at first, but as he walked inside and almost smack into a shelf he soon realised his mistake. Searching with his hands he finally found a light and switched it on. Mostly the cupboard held paint tins and old signs for ship activities. But in the back behind what looked like a box of hinges was a tool box. The best of which contained a hammer, big enough to do some real damage if necessary. Now Ted was moving down a hallway when he heard voices. Stopping abruptly and pressing himself behind a corner he listened as the voices moved closer.

"They could be anywhere by now."

"They might be dead?" the second voice was defiantly John Cena's and Ted shot out from behind the wall and grinned wildly.

"Hello my god am I glad to see you guys!" Ted yelled as Mike threw a punch at him which landed square on the nose.

"Ouch what was that for." Ted said clutching his poor nose as Beth walked over with her flashlight and pointed it directly into Ted's eyes.

"Its him. Ted where in the hell have you been." Beth said now clutching him tight as Ted went from anger to confusion in a matter of seconds.

"What, where have I been? what about you guys, and why the violence man?" ted asked looking at Mike who looked pretty apologetic.

"Sorry man but we have had a few bad experiences. You see whatever is after us, could be anybody. It kind of possesses people. It was in Stephanie, but we have been thinking its' probably jumped body since then." Mike said as Ted felt the need to sit down. All this information was giving him brain ache, Ted looked at John who had remained silent until now.

"We lost Randy, Mickie and Maryse about fifteen minutes ago, something was causing us to argue and they stormed off. The only problem is of we find them, we don't even know if it will be them." John said as Ted started to get the picture.

"Cody's dead, and I'm telling you this thing can do what the hell it likes. It made a port hole close up on him." Ted said now shocking his new found friends into silence as more groaning sounds came from the ship.

"Poor Cody." Beth said placing her hand on Ted's shoulder as a show of support but her mind was already wondering though the possibilities of this new revelation.

"We figured out that it could do quite a lot with the ship already, locking doors, causing gas leaks, but actually manipulating the metal, that is some creepy shit." Mike said shuddering at the thought of getting caught in what amounted to a human mouse trap.

"I tried to sink the ship after that, I figured that if the ship goes down then so does this thing." Ted said and Beth nodded at him she had had the same suspicion.

"Sorry about the lights by the way, as you can tell my attempt was less than successful." Ted said shrugging his shoulders, but now he guessed they were all pretty happy he hadn't managed to sink the Queen Anne.

"That is ok, but we may need to sink the ship anyway. Do you have any idea how we can do that?" Beth asked now switching tactics the possibility of finding everyone, everyone who was still themselves that was, getting on the raft and escaping was looking less and less likely. The next best option was to go down fighting.

"Not really I tried crossing the wires to cause an explosion but they just burnt out. With no access to the control room, and the engines off line the only way would be to manually punch a big hole in the hull." Ted said as the others all looked at one another as if considering the option.

"I guess it can be the backup plan." John said as Beth gave him a small smile and turned back in the direction they had come.

"I take it you have seen no one else on your travels." Beth said and Ted shook his head as expected.

"then there is no point continuing this way, I suggest we go back to the raft and see if anyone came back there. If not we have to go without them." Beth said it sounded so callous when she put it like that but no one protested her idea. They all knew that they could look for years and still not find anyone on this ship. Also they could run into them around the next bend. Nothing was logical here, it was almost like fate was in control, and the only thing to do was let it play out as scripted. All turning around now and heading back for the raft they walked in silence, knowing that anything they could say now had already been said a hundred times before.

Maryse was still waiting when someone finally came back, there form was dim in the light and see stood up immediately. The cold had seeped into her bones now and she couldn't stop shivering.

"Who's there?" she called unable to make out who was coming, when a voice replied Maryse relaxed immediately.

"It's me Maryse, did anyone else come back yet?"

"No not yet, I am hoping that they all will though, once they realised what happened." Maryse replied as she wrapped her arms around herself to ward of the cold.

"Good." Was the response as Maryse raised her eyebrow. She had no time to react, as dark eyes were suddenly peering into her own, the fire within her now burned, as she forced herself to breath out one last time. Falling to the floor and landing in a pile on the orange raft Maryse tried to snatch at the leg in front of her but it moved out of the way as her heart stopped and her eyes locked open with the last beat.

"One down four to go."

Randy and Mickie turned up at the life raft from opposite directions, each having gone down their preferred route earlier and having turned around once they realised they were alone.

"Thank god Mickie are you ok." Randy said as the brunette virtually leapt into his arms.

"Yes I thought I had lost you." Mickie said burying her face in his warm neck. It was so cold everywhere on this ship now and Mickie felt like an ice block. Settling her down on her feet Randy smiled at her and she returned it quickly as noise could be heard from the other end of the hallway. Light pierce the gloom as not one but two flashlight illuminated the corridor and the body lying on the raft before them.

"Maryse!" Mike yelled as all six people met at her dead body and looked at it with shock. Mike was bent over her holding her so tenderly that Beth wanted nothing more than to leave him there for the moment. She knew though they had no time for that.

"Mike we have to move her take the raft and go. There is nothing you can do for her now." Beth said looking up and eyeing Randy and Mickie with suspicion. Only Randy noticed however as Mickie was looking at the scene before her and Randy scowled at her. Beth chose to ignore it as she turned to John and placed her hand on his arm. Getting his attention and speaking to him in a quiet voice.

"Help me move her." John nodded as he bent down as Beth did the same, with Mike's help the shifted Maryse from the raft and lay her down in the corridor. Mike whipped the tears from his face and looked up at John and gave him a weak smile of thanks.

"Ted?" Randy said finally noting his friend after all of the horror that had just taken place and Ted stepped forward and hugged his old friend.

"Yeah it's me, not goblin is going to keep Ted Debasie down." He said but the sad look in his eyes told Randy everything he needed to know about Cody.

"He's gone Randy, and we need to go to." Ted said as Mickie came over and gave him a brief hug. The reunion was short lived. Each grabbing a corner and giving Mickie and Beth flashlights to lead the way the boys picked up the raft and got ready to move.

"Which way?" Ted asked and Beth looked at Mickie but this time the diva said nothing.

"Left I made a trail with flowers follow it and we will get to the docking bay." Randy said as finally there seemed like there was some good news.

"Cleaver boy." Beth said as she spotted the first flower and moved off into another corridor, followed by Mickie and lastly the boys and the raft.

There you go hope you enjoyed that. Apologies to amazing reviewer, but Maryse had to die or this story wouldn't work at the end. You will have to console yourself with Miz for now.

Next time: will our hapless wrestlers find their way out, will the real diamond please stand up and who will get out alive. To find out drop me a review and I will update asap. Thanks for reading XxX

PS Pixella's story contest ends in one week so if you haven't voted for your favourite I suggest you pop over to her profile and do so. Your favourite story deserves your vote.


	10. Chapter 10

Next chapter things are really taking a turn for the worst for our wrestlers, let's see if I can make thing a whole lot better. (not)

Following Randy's trial Beth came to an abrupt stop, they had walked into a dead end. Turning around and shining her flashlight behind her Beth saw that the guys were sweating even in the icy temperatures.

"Now what, I was following the trail." Beth said directing her question at Randy who had put down the heavy raft and was panting for breath.

"Don't know what to tell you, but man I need a break this think weighs a ton." He said as Ted and Mike nodded as well. John had already slid down the wall and was sitting on the floor.

"What could have happened?" Mickie asked coming to stand beside Randy as he too took a seat in the hallway.

"My guess something moved them." Mike chimed in as he bent forward and placed his hands on his thighs. They all looked at one another and knew that if that were true they could be anywhere in the ship right now. They had been down stairs and round corners.

"Great, anyone got a plan?" Ted said not sounding in the most optimistic of moods as Mickie shook her head.

"We split up and find the way. Leave the raft here and come back for it when we know where we are going." John said surprising everyone as they all turned to look at him like he was an alien who has just landed on board.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea mate." Randy said now resting his arms on his upraised knees as Mickie sat down beside him and cuddled in close, wanting to share his body heat. Randy placed one arm around her and could feel that she was still shivering beneath his embrace.

"No maybe not, but it will be the quickest way that we will get out of here. Plus we can't carry that much further." John said and all the guys nodded, they were done in as it was and they could be miles from their destination yet.

"Ok so we split up into pairs, no one goes off alone." Beth said with definition on the alone part, not that anyone had any intention of getting lost on this ship again.

"Teams then, Beth me and you." John suggested as Beth shook her head slightly, but not wanting to voice her concerns out in the open.

"Why don't we draw lots, that way if something happens its no one's fault." Beth said looking at John who gave her a small frown, but they all agreed. Beth picked up one of the stalks that she had collected on their travels. She had picked them up so that whatever was following them did not find the trail and follow it to. It had obviously been in vain as whatever they had been running from had already been there. Snapping the stalk into three separate lengths from long to short so each length had a pair she shuffled them and held them out for each person to pick. Ted came forward first and got a medium length stick. John them picked and got a long stick. In the end John was with Mike and there were two sticks left. Mickie came forward and picked a stick, it was medium in length and paired her with Ted.

"Means I am left with the short stick." Beth said opening her hand to display the stem and she nodded at Randy.

"Hope that wasn't some kind of dig." He said playfully as she came over to him and looked at the others.

"We don't have a flashlight Mike pointed out as they all moved towards their partner and John looked around the immediate area.

"I guess that will be our first port of call then." John said as Beth moved off towards the left hand turn.

"You guys go down there its lighter that way at least you will be able to see for a while." She suggested as she passed her flashlight down the right had corridor and the beam got swallowed up by the darkness. She swallowed slightly not liking the feel of that direction but she knew it had to be done. Also she wanted to keep John away from danger as much as possible, she had a bad feeling about this and right now she could only be grateful he had got paired with Mike.

"Should we retrace our steps?" Mickie asked moving back along the passageway as Ted moved to follow her. He looked behind him as Randy replied.

"Yeah ok, ten minutes everyone, you're looking for a sign that says Aft docking bay, its blue and is about head height on the wall." He said remembering the sign which he was fairly certain could not have been moved. Everyone nodded their understanding as they went their separate ways.

Mike and John managed fine until they moved into an adjacent corridor. It was like a tunnel, the walls felt like they were closing in on them and the light was fading fast.

"You know I don't think it could be this way." Mike said as he felt forward and came up empty. Stopping suddenly as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, he clutched onto John.

"What is that?" he asked pointing to the black shape that was directly in front of them.

"I don't know." John said moving forward, it was strange but he was not getting the creepy vibe from the image like he had done when they were being pursued earlier. Getting closer he now realised just what it was.

"It's our reflection. Look." John said waving his hand as the black image did the same. Mike let out an audible sigh of relief as the room began to cool.

"Ok that's not good, can I suggest getting the hell out of here." Mike said feeling the chill as John darted right pulling Mike along with him. Hitting something hard John gave a yelp of pain. Not thinking too much as he could feel his fingers begin to freeze he reached out and found that he had crashed into a door.

"There is a god." He said pulling open the door and rushing inside, Mike following close behind him as the door slammed shut. John stopped and looked around the light in the room was non-existent, but he recognised the smell well enough and now he wished he had never found that door.

Mickie and Ted walked back the way they had come, reaching the turning Mickie chose the opposite direction to the way they had initially come. Ted followed her hoping that this wouldn't take long. He had been away from the others far too long before and he knew alone this place was very dangerous.

"You think it was just one wrong turn?" Ted asked as the ship groaned again, her metal cooling and bending as night took a firm grip on the Queen Anne.

"No I don't think we are that lucky but we have to start somewhere." Mickie said as they came to another T-junction. Mickie looked left the right but saw no difference in the two options. Maybe we could split up just for ten yards or so just to see where these lead." Mickie suggested as Ted looked kind of dubious.

"Ok but just until we go out of site then turn round." Ted said knowing that if he could see her she would be ok. Plus they had felt nothing ominous for a while and getting out had to be the most important thing.

"You bet, if you go leaving me now I might just die of fright." Mickie said as she turned right and started moving down the corridor. Ted paused for a moment and watched her go, the light here wasn't bad he could still see, and Mickie's flashlight stood out a mile. Turing now Ted walked down the left hand passage way. He was checking for sign's on the wall. Or any clue that told him he was going in the right direction. The scream that pierced his ears tore through him like a knife. Spinning around he saw Mickie's flashlight jump and bounce around. Her cries echoing though the corridor. Without thinking Ted started to run.

"Not again, no you're not taking another on." He said to himself as he ran at where Mickie had been standing. Her flashlight was on the ground the space where she had been empty. Ted stood and listened for any sound but all he heard was the sound of his own heart beating.

"No! Mickie" He cried knowing that she had gone just like Cody and he had not been able to save her. Putting his hands over his eyes and holding in the tears that wanted to fall down his face Ted took in a deep breath and raised his head once more. Opening his eyes blackness looked back at him, a darkness he had never known before, the fire that burnt within him now slowed his heart and stopped his breathing. He did not cry he did not struggle. Ted knew this was his end and after losing not one but two of his friends he felt like this was a just end for him.

Leaving the body on the floor with now only three more souls to collect the dark being that had haunted the Queen Anne for over a year headed towards the sound of voices, knowing its time of exile was nearly at an end.

Beth and Randy moved down the corridor but saw nothing, literally, it was a dead end, another corner room. Knowing they had gone the wrong way they turned around pretty quickly. Beth was making her way back along the hallway when Randy's hand came down on her shoulder. Stopping abruptly Beth tried to even out her breathing as Randy's hand remained where it was as he forced her to face him. To Randy's surprised Beth's eyes were closed, he frowned at her when she didn't opened them or make any move to say anything.

"Beth look at me, what's wrong?" Randy said turning the grip on her shoulder to a softer touch, thinking that he perhaps scared her. Not hard under the circumstances and now Beth's eyes opened slightly.

"Sorry I just couldn't be sure it wasn't you." Beth said and again Randy looked confused.

"Me what's me, I'm me." He almost babbled. Randy had just about had enough of this place, kit was time to get out of here, but he also had to know what Beth had meant.

"The demon, the soul collector whatever the hell this thing is, I'm sure it has swapped bodies, and the only place it had to go was in one of us." Beth said as realisation hit Randy.

"Is that why you didn't want to go with John, because you think it might be him?" He asked as Beth shook her head quickly.

"No I know it's not John, he was with me Mike and Ted when Maryse was killed." Beth said and Randy saw immediately where this was going.

"So you think it's me, great, well I can tell you now Beth, it's only me in here, believe me there isn't enough room for anyone else." Randy said and Beth almost smiled at that but she chose to get it out there while he was listening.

"That only leaves Mickie, she was alone in that room, came out not a scratch on her." Beth said and Randy shook his head fiercely and forced Beth to look at him.

"No she came around the corner the same time as I did, she didn't know Maryse was there any more than the rest of us. I would know if that hadn't been Mickie kissing me and it was her. Why are you so sure this thing has switched, it could still be in Stephanie." Randy said as Beth started to move forwards again, not like the feeling of standing still in the dark.

"Because it's what I would do, you know if it was me." Beth said and now it was Randy's turn to worry. Following the blonde back out into the hallway where they left the raft Randy finally asked about the eyes.

"Why did you close your eyes, you know before." He said and Beth turned to him and gave him a small knowing smile.

"Because the eyes are the windows to the soul, or so I have heard I was just taking precautions." Randy was about to reply when a scream echoed around the ship. The sound of which neither wrestler had heard before.

"Mickie" Beth hissed as Randy shot passed her he had almost disappeared onto the darkness as Beth came out of her paralysis and followed him.

"Randy! Stop come back!" she called as she ran as fast as she could to catch up. In the end though she needn't have bothered.

John new the scent of a shower room when he smelt one. The vague damp smell that settled in the walls. The lingering sent of shampoo, and of sweat. He turned to where Mike was now but he could see nothing in the darkness. Reaching out he found Mike's shoulder. The wrestler jumped and swore under his breath.

"Shit man." He hissed as John moved closer and whispered in what he assumed was Mike's ear.

"Which way is out?" He said knowing there was only one way out and that was the way they had come in.

"How should I know, I don't even know which way is up right at the moment." He whispered back as the sound of the door creaking open filled the room. Freezing both men clung to one another as they heard the unmistakeable sound of foot falls.

"Well at least we know it has feet." Mike whispered as the darkness descended upon them. The fire than started to burn within. Both John and Mike collapsed to their knees, struggling to breathe.

"Go get out." John urged feeling his strength seeping out of him. Mike began to crawl but in which direction he didn't know. Stopping as he felt a leg immediately in front of him he clawed at it until it stomped on his hand. Making no sound when he cried out, as his breath finally gave way. Mike went limp on the floor as John followed him into oblivion.

"Teach me for taking two at once." The thing said as it looked down at the scratches on its leg and it quickly headed for the corridor as it felt the presence of more souls.

Beth almost ran into Randy as he stared down at Ted. His friends' expression was not that of shock, but of sadness. Beth clung to him and Randy wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they stood there looking at Ted.

"Mickie" Randy finally said as he moved forward at a slower pace this time. Beth went with him holding on to his hand tightly as they made their way through the dark passageways. Turing down into a corridor they saw the sign for the gym. Randy looked at Beth as she nodded for him to continue. Pushing open the door Randy was shocked at first at his own reflection. The light from Beth flashlight bounced off the floor length mirror casting the entire room in a strange shadowy glow.

"Mickie" Randy called quietly as he spotted the open door to the shower room and moved towards it. Pushing the door open and shining the light in Beth almost fell to her knees at the sight of John. If Randy hadn't been there to hold her up she would have sank to her knees in an instant and allowed the grief to take her.

"Oh god no" She gasped placing her hand over her mouth as Randy held on to her tightly and pulled her from the room. Mike was gone to he was halfway across the other side of the room. He looked like he had been trying to crawl away. Not wanting to look at the horrific scene anymore Randy closed the door and pulled Beth along with him.

"Come on we have to go now." He said knowing that Mickie was either dead or close to it. Now he had to at least save Beth from that fate. Getting back to Ted's body Randy recognised where they were.

"It's down here, I remember the fire extinguisher." He said as Beth shook the image of John out of her mind and focused on getting away.

"Ok but we need the raft or there is no point." Beth said as Randy nodded. Racing back to where they had left the raft they each too an end. Half dragging it, half carrying it they made it half way along the corridor. Stopping Randy hushed Beth.

"Randy" it was barely a whisper and Randy dropped the raft. Running forward he turned the corner and spotted Mickie staggering along the hallway.

"Beth I need your help." He called almost as Beth came around the corner to find out what was going on.

"Mickie!" Beth shouted going to her injured friend and the brunette fell into Randy's arms.

"Stephanie she is coming, I got away only because Ted came for me." Mickie said looking up with sad eyes.

"We know, we saw him. I am sure he was trying to save you." Randy said so glad that she was alive and had said she had seen Stephanie. At least they could stop worrying about who it was.

"Ok we need to get this raft down to the docking bay, can you walk on your own?" Randy asked knowing that alone neither he nor Beth would be able to shift the large orange boat.

"Yeah I will be fine." Mickie said as she went with them and picked up the raft. It was easier now Mickie could hold the flashlight and guide the way.

"You defiantly saw Stephanie, she was coming for us?" Beth asked as they finally turned into the hallway with the sign pointed to the docking bay.

"Yeah it was her alright, she looked right at me and I could feel myself burning. I think I screamed." Mickie said as Randy and Beth both nodded.

"You certainly did, we heard you all the way back here." Randy said as he felt the raft jolt to a stop and he looked back at Beth who was standing looking at a door.

"We have to end this." She said pointing to the room and both Randy and Mickie came to look.

"No Beth how can we set it off and get off the ship?" Randy said as Mickie shook her head.

"Look we will figure that out when the time comes ok, right now you two need to get this raft down to the docking bay and I will handle the explosives." Beth said giving them a pointed look as she opened the door and ended the conversation as she stepped into the storage room.

"Not without you." Mickie said following her in and bashing her toe on something. Crying with pain Beth turned round and shone her flashlight, first on Mickie then on to the object that she had collided with. It was a foot pump, not perfect but better than lungs.

"Now that is the first bit of luck we have had." Beth said picking up the instrument and handed it to Randy as Mickie was still holding onto her foot.

"Good can we go now and forget about blowing up the ship." Randy said as Beth moved towards him with a hand full of dynamite.

"No this ends now, here I will not be responsible for anyone else's death." She said closing the door with a slam and staring at Randy.

"Ok ok, then let me do it." Randy said as Beth shook her head.

"No Mickie will need you to pump up the raft, you will be the fastest at it, and rowing clear. Neither of us will live if we can't get away from the ship before it goes down." Beth said and Randy knew she was right, he didn't like it but he knew this was the way it had to go down.

"Beth" Mickie started but Beth raised her hand to silence her.

"No Mickie I have lost John to this thing it's my turn to deliver some pay back. You two go and live your lives preferably together." Beth smiled and Mickie blushed as Randy moved forward and enveloped Beth in a fierce embrace.

"You are one brave woman, brave but also slightly crazy." He said placing a kiss on her forehead and Beth moved back from him and held up her dynamite.

"One part brave three parts foolish, that's what my dad told me." She replied as she dug around in her bra and pulled out the lighter she had been keeping there in case she had needed it. When she had seen the lighter sitting on a table in the ball room, she didn't know why she picked it up. She had just had this feeling that she needed to. Now she knew why, this was her fate and she was going to follow it.

"You dad was right, ok give us ten minutes, if you can get out do it." Randy said picking up the raft with Mickie and heading down the hall.

"No promises." Beth called as she turned away not bothering to wipe the tear from her face as she headed back into the darkness.

Randy and Mickie worked in silence the minutes ticking away, taking it in turns to pump up the raft. With two minutes to spare before Beth would set of the dynamite they opened the bay doors and Mickie climbed in the raft. Randy gave it a shove and jumped on board. Getting hold of the oars and rowing with all of his might away from the ship. It was mere minutes before a loud explosion on the ship's lowest deck rocked the Queen Anne. Mickie buried her face in Randy's body as he watched the ship start to sink.

"God speed Beth." Randy whispered as he continued rowing away from the pull of the ship.

Beth knew where to go, she didn't need the light anymore she was moving on instinct alone. Finding herself in a cargo hold she moved to the centre and placed the dynamite in a small alcove, she knew she would only have to sink the ship, not destroy it. Looking at the fuse she thought she would have maybe two minutes to clear the hold and get out on to the open deck. Another five before the ship sank.

"No problem I can do that." She said taking a deep breath and flicking the lighter. As the flame cast a glow on the room Beth looked at it and frowned, something wasn't right. Why hadn't this thing come to stop her? With no time to think, hoping that it was because it thought they had all left Beth lit the fuse and sprinted for the door.

Making it up the stairs the explosion almost sent the door back on her face. Catching it at the last moment Beth moved onto the next deck and up another flight of stairs. Now the ship began to tilt, causing her to have to run upwards along the deck. Bursting out in to the night air, Beth made for the aft of the Queen Anne. The ship was almost at an fifty degree angle and it was slow going but Beth knew she would have to be virtually standing on the rudder to survive this. Pulling herself up over the rear railing just as the ship stood upright in the ocean and began its downwards journey.

"So this is how it ends, not with a bang, but a whisper." Beth said a she took a deep breath as the Queen Anne sank to the bottom of the dark ocean.

Oh no is it over, did I really kill off Beth? Well who knows but I can't leave Mickie and Randy floating around on a raft for the rest of creation, plus we all know villain's especially supernatural ones just aren't that easy to get rid of. If you would like to read the conclusion let me know via review. Thanks for readingXxX


	11. Chapter 11

This is it folks I hope you enjoy. Sorry to those waiting for an update on Penance but this one was just crying out for me to finish.

The wave from the Queen Anne rocked the life boat but nothing more, as Randy stared in to the darkness at the space where the ship once was, where his friends had been. Casting his eyes down he felt a hand on his arm and he knew it could only be one person.

"Mickie" He said quietly using her name like it was some kind of prayer, as the hand tighten slightly on his arm.

"Thank you." Mickie said and Randy looked up he thought it kind of an odd thing to say under the circumstances. As he looked at Mickie he realised that she was far closer than he thought. She had been sitting on the opposite side of the raft, without him hearing her she had moved over to sit right next to him.

"What for?" Randy asked wondering if she was just in shock heaven knows he had seen enough misery and death for an entire lifetime.

"For releasing me." Mickie said the corners of her mouth turning upwards in a small smile. Randy saw no glee in the smile, it was empty devoid of any real emotion. In that instant he knew Beth had been right all along, that Mickie was not who she appeared to be.

"You did a good job of impersonating her you know. I would never have guessed." Randy said trying to back away but the grip on his arm tightened painfully. The strength in the arm was inhuman, the look on its face matched.

"Oh I'm not so sure you didn't know all along Randy, it's surprising what we will believe if we want it badly enough." Mickie said, but it wasn't really Mickie, Randy could see that now clear as day. Her eyes were dark, darker than the usual deep brown, her entire iris was the same colour as her pupils. Light seemed to get lost there and so was Randy. 'The eyes are the window to the soul, I was just taking precautions' Beth had said that to him once, now he wondered if it were true. Inching backwards as far as he could go Randy was almost sitting on the edge of the raft the only thing behind him was icy cold ocean.

"You know sea fairing people call this a dead calm, do you know why?" Mickie asked turning her attention to the ocean which was as still as a duck pond in summer.

"Umm no." Randy replied wondering why this thing hadn't just killed him yet. He supposed because it was in no rush, it wasn't like there was anyone coming to save him.

"Because in this kind of sea it was impossible for them to spot ice bergs, far more chance of the ship hitting one and sinking. Happened to the Titanic you know." Mickie said in a conversational voice that didn't work with the vice like grip she still had on his arm, or the emptiness of her eyes.

"Right I think I did know that." Randy replied now not knowing what to do. He glanced around the life raft but saw nothing that might be of use. The only possible weapon would be a ore, but they were tied to their anchors so they wouldn't drop over board. It would take him time to unhook them, and it was time he knew he didn't have.

"After you I will be free, I can go and do anything I like. You know it's going to be strange living as a woman, but this body is pretty great. But I am sure you know that." Mickie grinned, but it was not her usual warm cheeky smile that Randy loved. It was evil and cold and it made Randy shiver.

"I will always remember my last, so don't you worry about that." Mickie said now turning towards Randy and focusing those dark eyes on his. Randy wanted to close his eyes, he wanted to look away to fight, but the fire inside him made it hard to concentrate. He could feel the flames, starting in his stomach and working up his body. It was like taking the first sip of whiskey on a cold winters night, except in reverse. This also lacked any pleasurable feelings he associated with liquor. Finally as Randy felt himself struggling for breath he slammed his eyes closed, the burning turned to a dim heat as the thing that was once someone Randy thought he loved raged.

"Arrrgh open your eyes, it will only slow down the inevitable." She said her voice dangerous in both its tone and its words. Randy just squeezed his eyes shut tighter as Mickie's fingernails dug tightly into his arm. Gasping for breath through the pain, Randy whipped his head from side to side.

"There is nowhere to go Randy, nowhere but in to my darkness." Mickie's voice was no longer her own, it was deeper more hollow and Randy cracked one eye open to see this creature for what it was. What he saw chilled him to the bone. Mickie's face had distorted slightly, her eyes seemed to take up her entire face. Her lips peeled back in an angry snarl. Her teeth seemed to be razor sharp within and Randy almost screamed.

"Your soul is mine!" the thing screamed as a wave of water washed over the side as a hand slapped down on the orange raft. Followed by another clutching a knife as a blonde head dripping with water appeared.

"Not if I have a say in things." Beth said as she threw herself at what was once her best friend. Not hesitating or thinking about this as Mickie, Beth plunged the knife straight between the things shoulder blades. The sound that came out of its mouth was like nothing on earth. Both Bethe and Randy covered their ears in fear of going deaf as Mickie wailed around the raft trying to remove the knife.

"Help me Randy, and don't look into its eyes." Beth said as she tried to grab hold of Mickie but the thing was too string for Beth and she got tossed aside. It took Randy a second but as soon as Beth went down he pounced on the being still trying to remove the knife. Randy pushed for all he was worth as Mickie tumbled to the edge of the raft. Legs kicking wildly to keep it on board.

"Now!" Beth shouted getting up and running at Mickie, taking one leg while Randy grabbed the other and hauled her over board. Mickie went down with a splash and a scream, trying desperately to stay afloat while blood covered the surrounding water.

"Row now" Beth said going over to one ore and pulling on it with all of her might. Randy took the hint and helped Beth as they stroked away from where Mickie had gone in.

Panting for breath and a few hundred meters from where they had started both wrestlers stopped to rest. The night had gone silent nothing moved below the water and Beth could no longer control her shivering. When the ship had gone down she had been dragged under. Having to shed her cumbersome dress, to get back to the surface Beth managed to remember the knife and pulled it from her shoe before she removed those to. Now with less weight and no drag she pulled herself to the surface. Looking around she could see the orange life raft clearly in the ocean. Her eyes had adjusted to almost no light on the ship, and now outside, with the stars and moon, it was almost like broad daylight. She knew why this thing had let them get off the ship, because it need to escape to live. It had pretended to be their friend until they had done its dirty work for it. Now it was alone with Randy and Beth knew she had to save him. Swimming towards the life raft she could hear them talking. She paused knowing this thing was probably far stronger than her, and that her only advantage would be that of surprise Beth hung low in the water. She could feel her limbs going numb from the cold, and she almost dropped the knife when she finally saw her opportunity. Mickie's back was turned and she was concentrating on Randy. Beth knew he had shut his eyes from what the demon was saying and she smiled. Hauling herself over the side she knew that this was going to be a fight to the death, only she hope she was on the winning side.

Randy tried not to stare at Beth only clothed in her underwear but he couldn't help notice that she was turning blue. Shrugging of his suit jacket he handed it to her, it was a little torn and very dirty but she took it gratefully.

"Thank you." She said trying to control her chattering teeth with little success as Randy scooted closer to her and wrapped her up in his arms. Beth was reluctant at first, feeling awkward and kind of guilty, but Randy's warmth was something she really needed right now and she gave in. wrapping her won arms around his body as she clung on to him.

"You think she is dead?" Randy asked after a few minutes as Beth pulled away from him. Pulling up the jacket sleeves so her hands were visible she clutched Randy's hand in her own.

"I think so." Beth said and Randy nodded. He had a haunted look in his eyes and Beth felt sorry for him. It was one thing to find someone you cared about dead, but another to actually have to kill them. Before she could voice such a thought though a rumble started below them.

"What the hell!" Randy shouted as they sprang apart and looked out over the ocean. A small wave seemed to be gaining momentum, and it was headed right for them. Beth let out a small gasp as she turned to Randy.

"Row now!" She screamed and Randy didn't need telling twice, as they stroked backwards away from the wave, it seemed to explode out of the water like a volcano had gone off. Sending a shower of water right down on their heads and soaking the bottom of their raft. Randy didn't pause to check to see if Beth was ok, the blonde was still pulling furiously at her ore as another wave drench them again and this time something was dragging them backwards in the water.

"It's got us." Randy said feeling the pull as he tried to drag his ore though the water with no success.

"I know!" Beth yelled back still trying to pull the raft further away but they were now stationary as a brunette head appeared over the lip of the raft. It seemed to rise up out of the water in slow motion as its torso became visible then one leg then the other. It was now standing facing them both a sadistic smile plastered across what was once Mickie beautiful face.

"I told you your soul was mine." It said looking at Randy but then turning her attention to Beth.

"You, you knew, all along I should have taken you soul first." It said as Beth stood up slowly, the jacket she was wearing dropping to mid-thigh but hung open dripping with water, no longer providing the warmth it once did.

"Didn't take you long to move in on him then you slut." The thing said with Mickie's smooth alto voice. Beth knew it had done it for effect, because that wasn't its real voice, they had both heard that, and it was not so sweet.

"You have no right to call her that, you are an abomination, and you're going straight to hell." Randy said running at the thing and knocking it off its feet. Beth was as shocked as Mickie at te unexpected attack. As Mickie got swung around landing on its hands and knees on the wet floor of the boat, Beth spotted the knife still protruding from its back. Randy sent a kick up into its ribs but Mickie blocked it. Keeping hold of Randy's foot turning it until the delicate bones beneath cracked. Randy let out a howl of pain as he fell to the floor. Then it started to stand up, the pain that ripped though it sent it back to its knees. Beth had ripped the knife from its spine and now the thing that was once a fun loving beautiful woman, with an infectious laugh snarled like a wild animal and launched itself at Beth. Taking the blonde down they struggled to get control of the knife until Mickie punched Beth in the face, knocking the blonde almost out cold as it pulled itself upright once more it was not ready for the arms that wrapped round its body. Pinning its own arms to its side, it struggled to free itself as Beth started to rouse. Seeing Randy hobbling about on an obvious broken foot Beth shook her head to clear the fog from her brain. Grabbing the knife once more Beth staggered over to where Randy was now having to stop them both from falling into the ocean.

"Hold her there!" Beth yelled as Randy forced himself to stand on both legs and hold on as tight as he could. He saw the knife come down and felt the blood spray on to his face. Letting go of Mickie he hobbled away from the demon. Beth clutched him around the waist to help support him, as they both watched the thing gargle for breath. The knife stuck out of its neck sticking out at a right angel as it weakly tried to remove it. As it choked for breath blood ran down its chin and dripped into the puddle of water below.

"Get off our ship" randy yelled as he gave the thing a shove and it back summersaulted into the ocean. The quite splash the only sound this time as Beth ran to the edge and watched as Mickie's body disappeared into the darkness below. Not even a bubble of air followed as she collapsed back into her seat. She looked up and saw Randy struggling to sit. She got up and was helping him out in an instant.

"Do you think it's dead this time?" Randy asked with a wince of pain as Beth gave him a small smile.

"I don't think I want to tempt fate but I think so." Beth said now holding on to Randy tightly as dawn finally broke over the ocean. Its warm orange glow a welcome friend in the darkness that had proceeded it. Beth looked at Randy his face was a mask of pain and sadness, he wasn't looking at her and Beth was worried.

"It wasn't Mickie you know, we lost her back in that room." Beth said realising that Randy was thinking about killing her.

"I know, but maybe we could have saved Mickie somehow." Randy said, but he knew it was probably not true, Stephanie had never come back, she had been taken to the darkness to.

"It will never be able to take anyone again thanks to you." Beth said as Randy finally met her eyes and he smiled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but what about us?" Randy said pointing to the open ocean before them and Beth looked around to. It did seem pretty dire. There was no land in site and Randy's foot was broken. She suspected that she also had hyperthermia, and all in all they were not in good shape.

"We are alive Randy, and we have each other." She said thinking that looking on the bright side might be the best option right now as Randy gave her a smile.

"Hey you were the one complaining about drawing the short straw earlier." He said giving her a small shove as she frowned at him and wrapped the jacket tighter around her body.

"At that point I did think you were a demon remember." She said as Randy winced trying to get more comfortable in his seat, and only managing to jostle his injured foot.

"Ok but we can't sit here all day, you need to get to a hospital." Beth said Randy's pain springing her into action as she moved to take hold of both ores. Randy looked at her with an amused expression.

"Not sure there is one in this area, not one with a water slide anyway." He said as Beth just ignored him and began rowing. To be honest Beth didn't know where she was going but at least the exercise was keeping her warm, and it stopped her from thinking about what would happen to them if they didn't find land. Taking a look at Randy he seemed to be sleeping, and she smiled slightly, he must have been exhausted. He looked so peaceful now, his white dress shirt totally see though, and Beth had to avert her gaze from his impressive chest.

"You know staring at someone while they are asleep is the first sign of love." Randy said opening one eye and smiling at her. Beth just frowned at him and stopped rowing. Her arms felt like led now and she could use the break.

"If you weren't asleep then it doesn't count." Beth said incredulously as she walked over to him and bent down and checked is foot. The icy water that had landed in the small boat now was proving a fairly decent ice pack and the swelling wasn't too bad.

"I was asleep at first, so maybe it half counts at least." He said as he looked down at Beth gently holding his foot. Her hair was drying now and hung in loose curls around her face. Which was developing quite an impressive bruise.

"Does your face hurt?" Randy asked but the question seemed so silly when he said it out loud.

"Do bears shit in the woods?" Beth replied and Randy laughed out loud like he hadn't done for what seemed like a lifetime. It felt good and Beth joined in. their laughter was cut short however as the sound of an large engine approached. Getting up now Beth turned to see a trawler ship approaching, she waved her arms wildly as it came to a stop beside them.

"You guys going for a little sail?" one of the men on board asked looking at the pairs state of undress and giving them a wiggle of the eye brows. Beth scowled at him bit decided hostility was not a good start for their saviours.

"No we were on the Queen Anne, it sank." Beth said as Randy tried to get to his feet. He hobbled upright and the man on board the trawler now noticed their injuries.

"Holly shit we have been looking for that ship, got some muffled distress call, thought it was a hoax. Lads we need to get these guys on board!" The man called to his ship mates as more men appeared.

It was hard to get Randy on but they managed it buy using a kind of pulley system, once he and Beth were settled in the crew cabin, Beth had gotten a pair of ill-fitting trousers and Randy had been given a fresh shirt they were underway and sailing back for port.

"You know they are not going to believe us." Beth said now thinking about how they were going to tell everyone back home what had happened. How they were going to tell Vince.

"I know, I guess we tell them that the ship sank and we got lucky, I'm not sure I want to go back anyway, maybe it would be easier if we just disappeared. That the Queen Anne went down with all hands." Randy said his tone serious as Beth nodded her head, it would be easier, after what they had seen she didn't know if wrestling was what she wanted any more anyway.

"Where do we go?" She asked as Randy moved on the bed and sat more upright.

"Anywhere as long as we stay together." He replied as Beth shifted next to him.

"Deal."

"Miss do you have your boarding pass?" The steward asked the petit blonde standing on the gangway. She lowered her large sun glasses and smiled at him. She was an attractive woman and he smiled back.

"Oh yes here you go sorry I was admiring the ship." She said as the steward checked the boarding pass.

"Oh yes the Monarch is a new ship Miss James, any luggage to check in luggage?" The man asked as Mickie moved towards the entrance and she looked at him.

"No I travel light." She smiled as he smiled back at her, obviously checking her out and she inwardly shivered.

"If you need any help don't hesitate to ask, and Miss James enjoy your cruise."

"Don't worry I will."

THE END

Well was it a good end? Did you enjoy the story and yes we all guessed it of course it was Mickie hope there was enough doubt in your mind thought to still wonder. Thank you so much for reading feedback is very welcome. XxX


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